Red Bull Hardline 2024: The biggest DH Race gets bigger, with extra venue added

Rumours that Red Bull Hardline will become a series have been roaming the internet corridors a while, so it’s perhaps no surprise to have the official …

By stwhannah

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https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/red-bull-hardline-2024-the-biggest-dh-race-gets-bigger-with-extra-venue-added/

Some of those drone shots make it look like a video game!!

The problem is, all the PInkbikers see this as the saviour of DH, but in reality, it’s not even remotely DH racing. It’s racing, it’s downhill, it’s against a clock. But it’s SO far removed from WCDH racing it’s a completely different sport and never the twain shall meet.
I don’t see a cross-over between them for many many years (if at all)

But it’s SO far removed from WCDH racing it’s a completely different sport and never the twain shall meet.
I don’t see a cross-over between them for many many years (if at all)

its the same athletes (until the UCI ban it) on the same bikes. For sure its harder, but calling it a completely different sport is mis-representing it. It’s possible it’ll become the pinnicle of the sport.

its the same athletes

Not really… it’s some of them for sure.
Gee Atherton
George Brannigan
Adam Brayton
Edgar Briole
Josh Bryceland
Rónán Dunne
Kade Edwards
Theo Erlangsen
Craig Evans
Brendan Fairclough
Sam Gale
Thomas Genon
Laurie Greenland
Charlie Hatton
Matteo Iniguez
Bernard Kerr
Thibault Laly
Josh Lowe
Harry Molloy
Jim Monro
Florent Payet
Johny Salido
Kaos Seagrave
Joe Smith
Kyle Strait
Camilo Sanchez
Taylor Vernon
Juanfer Velez
Gaetan Vige

That was the 2023 list.. (according to Google).. HOw many of them are WCDH racers ? Answer is… Not many. I can’t see many of the WCDHers actually wanting to race Hardline… The risks are too great for their day to day job.

It would be interesting if i’m proved wrong here… but.. i’m not convinced.

its the same athletes (until the UCI ban it)

Why d’you think the UCI would ban it? They don’t ban Crank Works, they don’t currently ban Hardline or IXS? Makes no sense 🤷‍♂️

Red Bull are still a major sponsor of WCDH & it’s riders so it’d be a dangerous game to try banning something like this whilst it isn’t directly competing (in terms of dates, exposure etc).

HOw many of them are WCDH racers ? Answer is… Not many.

Erm, no. Answer is… around 2/3 of them.

all the PInkbikers see this as the saviour of DH

does UCI DH need saving? I think a lot of people are unhappy at the fact that uci/discovery have taken dh away from a free to view platform and put it behind a paywall, this move just makes some high level downhill racing available again on a free to view platform – presumably red bull wont put it behind a paywall?

I think a lot of people will just see it an easier to watch an alternative to thr UCI run DH, which it is .

But it’s SO far removed from WCDH racing it’s a completely different sport and never the twain shall meet.
I don’t see a cross-over between them for many many years (if at all)

some athletes will be good at both, I guess eventually they will go where the money is if the injury risk from one would drastically affect their earning potential in the other. (Salary from their teams and income from their social media posts as well as prize money)

some sadly won’t be. see how enduro has gone from the “future of bike racing” to the ginger step child. some of the specialists might get hung out to dry, others will be able to switch codes with a winter’s worth of focussed training.

Says Tix are available now for Wales, but can’t seem to find them….anyone got a working link?

 

all the PInkbikers see this as the saviour of DH,

oddest thing about this (the gutter of the PB comments) is that they moan on and on about WCDH being ruined by:

barely changed and repeated tracks;

small entry fields;

cameras focusing on big jumps and not on the technical bits where it is won and lost;

and weather cancellations/changes

… and yet Hardline is the saviour, despite suffering from all these problems to an even greater extent.

Answer is… around 2/3 of them.

Maybe i should have used “competitive WCDH racers”

Whilst some of the others have raced in the past, you wouldn’t expect to see them in the top 10

Good news, always rumoured and now official. How long before we see another race added?

And I never understand the Pinkbike lot; why would the UCI ban those taking part? It’s not a rival series, merely an additional series for those that want to do it. No different to when we had Enduro GP, plus a Hard Enduro series for those that wanted more challenging Enduro courses; eventually, the latter gained World status.

Or in other motorsport disciplines where drivers will race in other series as well as the World championship – it doesn’t have to be one or the other.

Similarly, we have the Urban Downhill series in South/Central America….and there are now Urban specialists….I suspect, we may well see Hardline specialists if more races are added.

The problem is, all the PInkbikers see this as the saviour of DH, but in reality, it’s not even remotely DH racing.

why is that a problem?

it is dh racing, just not world cup dh racing. if the competitors in wc racing don’t want to race hardline, what is the problem? wc can be wc and hardline can be hardline. both are mountain biking and far more interesting to me than slope style.

i’d like to follow or watch both. 

The problem is, all the PInkbikers see this as the saviour of DH, but in reality, it’s not even remotely DH racing.

why is that a problem?

it is dh racing, just not world cup dh racing. if the competitors in wc racing don’t want to race hardline, what is the problem? wc can be wc and hardline can be hardline. both are mountain biking and far more interesting to me than slope style. 

i’d follow or watch both. 

that said, i’d also be surprised if it replaced wc.  

Why d’you think the UCI would ban it? They don’t ban Crank Works, they don’t currently ban Hardline or IXS? Makes no sense 🤷‍♂️

they’ve banned athletes from doing other e-bike events https://www.bikeradar.com/news/uci-bans-licensed-riders-from-competing-in-motorcycle-federations-e-mtb-race-calendar/

basically once something threatens their own series they try to outlaw it. it does make limited sence but the UCI is a bunch of protective ….

the ixs event is run by the uci https://www.uci.org/competition-details/2023/MTB/70337

Curious that they don’t specify the location in Tasmania… it’s about the size of Ireland.

I heard it was Maydena

Yeah, that’s confirmed by Maydena themselves,  just weird that they don’t mention it in the PR.

I suppose 1 gig a year wasn’t enough for Rob Warner to earn a living

Same goes for the riders who need sponsors but don’t get the coverage on compressed WC events 

The dates for Wales seem like a strange choice as it’s the start of the European downhill season and and injury is likely to have a huge impact on any overall ambitions.

Oh another marketing event to sell some more fizzy drinks. Just what the sport needs. I really don’t get the excitement.  It’s not a real race, most of the worlds best DH riders won’t be there, and nobody cares who won

it is dh racing

I guess it is as in the track will go downhill. But it’s not racing that’s why most of the top racers won’t be there

Oh another marketing event to sell some more fizzy drinks.

All ‘events’ in sport are sponsored by someone, they don’t do it for no reason, F1, TDF, the Tennis, etc etc.. It’s all marketing otherwise why would they bother ?

It’s not a real race, most of the worlds best DH riders won’t be there, and nobody cares who won

That’s like saying anything outside of WCDH isn’t a real race then. Of course it’s a race, it’s just not a race that every DHer will attend. Is Crankworx not a real race ? IXS ?

I guess it is as in the track will go downhill. But it’s not racing that’s why most of the top racers won’t be there

It quite literally is racing… It’s really not unreasonable to expect that a lot of racers don’t want to do jumps that big.

Re: Hardline vs. UCI events. Hardline and UCI DH are directly competitive as both of those types of events involve risk and attrition for largely the same pool of riders. Like it or not, UCI DH is being ridden so much on the ragged edge right now that remaining injury free is at least half the battle. This year the French(!) lost 1/2 of their top 20 riders to injury over the season.  Hardline and Rampage present similar dangers to UCI DH, especially if they are serialized.  Also, because there are potential schedule/team/equipment overlaps, the UCI is competing for resources. The UCI has fought/banned riders in Enduro and BMX orgs in the past, it would not be surprising if they decided to battle on this.

That’s like saying anything outside of WCDH isn’t a real race then.

Hardline is not areal race. Competitors are not there on merit, because it’s an invitational event. It’s like running the rugby World Cup and saying South Africa Australia and New Zealand aren’t allowed to enter. It becomes farcical very quickly. Hardline is sold as the best racing the hardest track, but the best aren’t invited.

Nah, completely disagree

 It becomes farcical very quickly. Hardline is sold as the best racing the hardest track, but the best aren’t invited.

100% wrong.

100% wrong.

why? Now many lf those listed above a have been in the top 10 at a WCDH race in the last 2 seasons?

@crismac The counter argument would be that the UCI WCDH also doesn’t contain the ‘best’ in the sport – just the fastest within there own race format. Maybe your ‘best’ is different to Redbulls idea of ‘best’…

Oh another marketing event to sell some more fizzy drinks. Just what the sport needs. I really don’t get the excitement. It’s not a real race, most of the worlds best DH riders won’t be there, and nobody cares who won

It’s sport for entertainment, the same as the UCI WCDH!! Ok so there’s a main sponsor you don’t like, I get that, can’t stand the stuff myself. But arguably RedBull have done more to promote the sport of MTB over the last 15 years or so than the UCI have done in 30+years.

14+ of the 2023 list race WCDH.
In 2022 you had 2 top 5 overall (Kolb & Kerr) plus Junior overall (Goldstone) plus this year’s DH World Champ.

If Goldstone was fit you’d have had 3 of the Mont St Anne podium on the 2023 list.

Whilst certainly not all the fastest riders, there’s generally decent representation. Do they ever invite Monster sponsored athletes as that removes a few as well?
I imagine most at that level would ride the course but can see many deeming it not worth the risk when they are pushing for overall, podiums or just to stay on the dwindling number of teams!

Personally, it’s our favourite MTB event of the year by a long way, I hope it goes from strength to strength. To try to diminish the skill and courage of the riders is a little bit daft, there really aren’t that many people in the world who could do this event, never mind put in a decent time.

It’s also the only event that non mountain biking friends who love sport generally actually take an interest in. 🙂

Bit more detail on the February event 

https://flowmountainbike.com/post-all/redbull-hardline-maydena/