Red Bull Hardline 2026: Two kilometres of madness

Canada can take a hard line too

Red Bull Hardline is moving on. After Wales and Tasmania, the invitational race is coming to Canada for the first time – at Cypress Mountain, north of Vancouver. There, the world’s elite downhill riders will face a course that has little in common with a typical World Cup track. Hardline blends classic downhill with dirt jump, BMX and motocross elements. The result: massive jumps, rocky sections, banked corners and drops of more than ten metres. It’s no surprise that the Atherton brothers, Dan and Gee, claim their creation is the ‘toughest downhill race in the world’.

The course is around two kilometres long. According to the organisers, it has a total descent of 543 metres. Riders reach speeds of up to 72 kilometres per hour; the highest drop measures just under eleven metres, and the longest jump is up to 30 metres. At the ‘Lily Pad’, they fly over a 30-metre-wide gap and nine metres down. A name straight out of a garden pond, an obstacle straight out of a nightmare.

Added to this is what track designers politely refer to as ‘off-camber’: the bends slope outwards rather than inwards. If you go too fast, you’ll fly off the track. If you go too slow, you won’t make it to the next jump. The ideal line lies somewhere in between.

Saturday 17 October 26 is the big day. You can watch the race live on Red Bull TV, presented by the iconic presenter Rob “Look at the Time” Warner.

Built for the best – and to compete against them

This course was also designed by the creators of Hardline, Dan and Gee Atherton. Justin ‘Viper’ Wyper and his team of ten built it into the Canadian mountains. Local big names such as Jackson Goldstone helped with scouting the terrain. Tons of earth were moved, wooden bends were built and clearings were cut through the forest. Around 7,000 working hours are said to have gone into the track. Now it takes the riders just a few minutes to race down it.

Despite all its freeride elements, Hardline remains a race. There are no style marks and no bonus points for particularly spectacular jumps. A rider sets off, the clock starts ticking, and the fastest rider wins. Anyone who strays from the marked course must return to the exact same spot. Otherwise, they will be disqualified.

Hardline began in 2014 in the Dyfi Valley in Wales. Danny Hart won the inaugural event. Louise Ferguson from Scotland won the first women’s classification there.

Since 2024, Tasmania has also been part of the Hardline circuit. Rónán Dunne and Gracey Hemstreet won the inaugural event there, followed by Jackson Goldstone and Hemstreet again in 2025, and Asa Vermette and Hemstreet in 2026. In 2024, Hemstreet became the first woman ever to complete a full Hardline final run – and won straight away. Canada is now the third continent and the next level of escalation. (redbull.com)

Two days, a stopwatch

Training and qualifying are scheduled for Friday, 16 October. The times set the starting order for the final. The main race will take place on Saturday, 17 October, starting at 12 noon local time. In Central Europe, the live broadcast begins at 9 pm on Red Bull TV. (redbull.com)

Then there’s just one question left: who will manage to combine speed, technique and nerves of steel all the way to the finish line? Because it can be sensible to slow down on Cypress Mountain. It’s rarely a fast run.

Start list:

Men:

1. ​Asa Vermette (USA) 🇺🇸
2. Bas van Steenbergen (CAN) 🇨🇦
3. Brendan Fairclough (UK) 🇬🇧
4. Bernard Kerr (UK) 🇬🇧
5. Charlie Hatton (UK) 🇬🇧
6. Dane Jewett (CAN) 🇨🇦
7. Felipe Agurto (CHL) 🇨🇱
8. Finn Iles (CAN) 🇨🇦
9. Gracey Hemstreet (CAN) 🇨🇦
10. Harry Molloy (CAN) 🇨🇦
11. Hugo Frixtalon (FRA) 🇫🇷
12. Jack Menzies (CAN) 🇨🇦
13. Jackson Goldstone (CAN) 🇨🇦
14. Jakob Jewett (CAN) 🇨🇦
15. Jess Blewitt (NZ) 🇳🇿
16. Johnathan Helly (CAN) 🇨🇦
17. Juanfer Vélez (COL) 🇨🇴
18. Kaos Seagrave (UK) 🇬🇧
19. Lachlan Stevens-McNab (NZ) 🇳🇿
20. Lina Frener (AUT) 🇦🇹
21. Lucas Cruz (CAN) 🇨🇦
22. Mikey Delesalle (CAN) 🇨🇦
23. Mille Johnset (NOR) 🇳🇴
24. Roger Vieira (BRA) 🇧🇷
25. Rónán Dunne (IRL) 🇮🇪
26. Tegan Cruz (CAN) 🇨🇦
27. Théo Erlangsen (RSA) 🇿🇦
28. Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (NZ) 🇳🇿

Women:

1. ​Gracey Hemstreet (CAN)
2. Jess Blewitt (NZ)
3. Lina Frener (AUS)
4. Vaea Verbeek (CAN) Tayte Prouix-Royds (CAN)

What has happened so far: ​From Welsh madness to the World Series

Red Bull Hardline began in 2014 in the Dyfi Valley in North Wales. Dan Atherton didn’t design a run-of-the-mill downhill course there, but rather a sort of ultimate challenge for all gravity riders, featuring massive jumps, deep chasms and elements borrowed from dirt jumping, BMX and motocross. Only those who are invited are allowed to take part. It’s less elitist than it sounds – because in the past, it was sometimes difficult to find any participants at all who were willing to put themselves through this madness.

The only riders to have taken part in the Hardline so far were Cerreo Abajo ace Johannes Fischbach and Erik Irmsch.

Bernard Kerr is the record holder for the Welsh race, with three victories. Louise Ferguson won the inaugural women’s event and was the first female rider to complete the entire Welsh course at race pace.

The winners of Red Bull Hardline Wales

Since 2024, Hardline has had a second venue at Maydena Bike Park in Tasmania. There, the course winds through dense woodland and over varied terrain to the finish jump, which is around 30 metres long. Gracey Hemstreet has won every women’s event in Tasmania to date. In 2026, heavy rain prevented the final from taking place; as a result, the winners were decided based on their times from the qualifying rounds. Asa Vermette and Hemstreet were the fastest there. (redbull.com)

The winners of Red Bull Hardline Tasmania

British Columbia will become the third host venue in 2026. The Canadian debut will take place on 17 October 2026. Until then, Cypress Mountain remains an unresolved issue – just under two kilometres long, a good 500 metres down, and with plenty of small print for the accident insurance company.