5 Things We Learned from Red Bull Hardline Tasmania
1. The big features get the limelight, but the technical sections are what make or break a race run.
It's often hard to show in photos and videos how steep and technical a race track is, but it's comparably easy to make a gap jump or the container drop look massive when you've got a rider for scale. While Red Bull Hardline Tasmania highlights included the Midline Gap, Log Jam, Cliff, Whoops, Road Gap, Crooked Cannon, and Greek Gap, the sections that took riders out were nameless sections of the 2.3km track with 575m of elevation loss.
Neither of Louise Ferguson's two crashes were on one of the drops or massive jumps that Red Bull Hardline is known for and Thomas Genon and Dan Booker both crashed on the same slippery technical section within 15 seconds of the start gate. It was a section of track that the riders still at the top waiting for their start time could practically see from the start gate, and definitely could hear.
Most notably, 2022 winner Jackson Goldstone also hit the ground and most likely tore his MCL on what looked like a relatively benign section of track near the top after commentating a play by play course preview earlier in the week that made the insane track look like a ride through the park.
2. The women are just getting started.
When Gracey Hemstreet crossed under the Red Bull Hardline finish line arch she made history as the first woman to ever finish a top to bottom Red Bull Hardline race run. It was a momentous occasion, not just because Hemstreet managed to link together all the features from the course, but also because it has been three years in the making. Minutes later, Louise Ferguson crossed the line as well after a gutsy ride, sending all the features and the final 70 footer despite two crashes.
Jess Blewitt was the first woman to ride at Red Bull Hardline in Wales in 2022 before a group of six women took on the Wales course in 2023. That event ended up being cancelled due to high winds, but for 2024, the women had earned spots on the rider list for the first time.
Tahnee Seagrave, Louise-Anna Ferguson, Cami Nogueira, Hannah Bergemann, Gracey Hemstreet and Harriet Burbidge-Smith ticked off feature after feature on the Tasmania course and if there hadn't been high winds and rain on the final practice day, more of them would have undoubtedly hit the final jump. It sounds like it was the only feature that the rest of the women needed to tick off to complete a top to bottom run.
Without a dedicated women's category and prize money, Seagrave said on the broadcast that there wasn't the pressure of winning and the women worked together and encouraged one another to piece together the course throughout the week, as did all riders by the sound of it. The next logical step in this progression is a women's category and prize money.
3. The prize money is much better than at a World Cup DH.
Speaking of which, the prize money is really good. While some of the top World Cup downhill riders were in attendance, many more were either not invited, or turned down their invitations like Loïc Bruni and Vali Höll. Bruni got quite a lot of heat in the Pinkbike comments for first appearing on the start list, but then deciding not to compete. He's no stranger to Red Bull Hardline however, placing third at the inaugural event in Wales in 2014. We haven't seen his name on a Red Bull Hardline start list since.
The tracks might be gnarlier, but the field of riders isn't as deep and so the risk of Red Bull Hardline is obviously worth the reward and recognition for many riders. Wyn Masters suggests that it is a hefty sum compared to what a World Cup DH win gets you when he interviewed Ronan Dunne for WynTV so I did some digging.
Craig Evans received £7000 ($8,879 USD) prize money for winning Red Bull Hardline Wales in 2017, but in 2024, a winner gets £12,000 ($15,220 USD). That's more than triple what you'd take home for winning a World Cup DH round at €3,750 ($4,066 USD) for the winner. A World Championships win won't come anywhere near that at €5000 ($5,422 USD) prize money. Even if you win the UCI DH World Cup overall you won't earn near that amount, with €10000 ($10,845 USD) on the line for the overall winner. There's also an appearance fee of £2,100 ($2,663 USD) for Red Bull Hardline.
Of course, many sponsors will also give riders bonuses for their World Cup podiums and so it's an individual choice for each rider. As with any start line, it's never certain that you'll make it through practice and race day without a few crashes and we hope to see Jackson Goldstone back on the bike in time for Fort William on May 3rd in Fort William.
4. Bernard Kerr is still the man to beat at Red Bull Hardline.
Bernard Kerr's track record is like none other in the past decade of Red Bull Hardline with a second place in 2015, win in 2016, second place in 2017, second in 2018, win in 2019, win in 2021 and a second place in 2024. He didn't attend in 2014, there was no event in 2020, and in 2023 the event was cancelled. The only year he raced and didn't finish on the podium was in 2022.
That means that out of eight Red Bull Hardline events he's taken part in, he's podiumed in seven. He's the only person to win the event more than once with a trifecta of wins in 2016, 2019 and 2021. Danny Hart won in 2014, Ruaridh Cunningham in 2015, Craig Evans in 2017, Gee Atherton in 2018, Jackson Goldstone 2022, and Ronan Dunne in 2024.
Kerr said on WynTV that he was distracted during his run on Saturday and was gutted not to take the win, but we look forward to seeing what he can do in Wales this time around.
5. Red Bull pulled off a delayed broadcast.
The trio of Rob Warner, Eliot Jackson and Tahnee Seagrave did a great job of covering the event, but an interesting fact was that the event wasn't live. There aren't many places you'd be able to pull off an event and embargo race results until the end of a time-delayed broadcast, but Red Bull was able to do just that by hosting Hardline Tasmania in a remote part of the world.
I often end up watching race replays for World Cups since they're usually sometime in the wee hours of the morning in my time zone and I ended up doing the same thing with the Red Bull Hardline broadcast, but it's almost laughable to imagine that working for an event like Red Bull Rampage or a World Cup DH, where fans lining the track would be able to share the results with their audiences live on social media.
Other fun facts:
- The course took approximately 7,500 hours to build.
- The geology on the course changes three times, which resulted in totally different rock and soil types for riders to contend with.
- Reed Boggs said he struggled with how long the course was compared to a 30 second Rampage run and he couldn't remember all the features. On the live broadcast, you can hear him say "darn, forgot about that one" when he got hung up on a rock.
- Likewise, Matt Jones said that he normally competes for 30 seconds and mostly rides dirt jumps and air bags. This was his first downhill race as an adult.
- While many riders were kicking off the season on new teams with fresh frames and different components, Dennis Luffman jumped straight on a fresh Atherton bike for Hardline. He had had his bike for two seasons and it had two World Cup seasons and two Hardlines under it so Dan Atherton decided it shouldn't contend with another Red Bull Hardline course and loaned him a bike. He finished 18th.
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
I will comment though, that in spite of a self-imposed (and for once successfully carried out) media blackout prior to my watching the event (so as to not accidentally see any spoilers as to who won), Rob's little slip of the tongue at 1:58:01 as Ronan neared the finish line did somewhat kill the suspense of watching the last few riders come down the mountain :
"Ronan Dunne is gonna take the win...er ... take the lead, excuse me..." ♂️
On another note, RIP Jayo Archer.
on PB but it's really a lack of perspective from people who see the sports world from a mountain bike PoV.
Downhill mountain biking is not a big sport globally, it is niche and as a televised event it has little interest to the general sports viewing public. A lot probably find it really boring to watch if they no intrinsic obsession with bikes.
Funding prize money is heavily tied to viewership regardless of the risk involved.
It isnt a charity you dont pay more just because it's risky - just look at some even riskier niche sports and look at pay.
For reference cyclo-cross UCI is on a par with UCI Mtb prize money.
English professional cricketers (cricket is a massively popular game and mainstream sport worldwide [aside from Americas] and televised in many countries) on central contracts only earn £30k! Ignoring sponsorship.
[Of course the overall winner gets c€500k, but I'm not going there]
Still sucks though.
So you have a venue that pays to host the race, a broadcaster who pays to show it, teams who pay to be there, sponsors who pay for branding, and then you have the UCI who do f*ck all.
There is no way to look at it other than being completely unfair. Greed wins.
And actually, every other high risk job in the world gets bonus pay. Rail line workers get paid double grounds workers doing the same jobs in a safer environment.
Woe is uci isn't a good stance to take, it's like arguing Jeff bezos shouldn't pay his workers a fair wage because it was his idea.
I agree the winnings are pitiful and the costs immense
Redbull Hardline not so much
My personal opinion is that top level events like world cups should give out more prize money if they want to stay relevant/ ward off rival series like Hardline, but that prize money alone will never sustain mountain bike racing and we'll always have to rely on brand sponsorships.
www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1139673/uci-loss-lappartient-bonus
All you gotta do to keep up is win 150 World Cups.
Count your blessings instead of your money. Nothing beats having a million good days.
You can't compare the quali run and race run, the track was shorter for qualis this year.
In my books, the man to beat is the current champion. Bernard has been beaten in the last two Hardline races, plus every World Cup he has ever entered.
I’m usually rolling my eyes at the borderline mandatory uplifting comments towards the female riders at races etc, but it was clear some real milestones were happening here that will change the progression of women’s mtb forever.
Exciting stuff.
I really hope RB keeps expanding the series.
Awesome to have a better prize purse too.
Why do we need it to be compared to downhill racing, it's its own series of events and having riders of different stature and skills make it unique, particularly the way the women are involved too. In fact i'd argue this is a defining event, not just that Gracey and Louisa completed the course but the way the whole event addressed equality, perhaps inadvertently, has significantly changed the landscape for any sport. We've just legitimized a mixed sex event, and no rider seemed p*ssd off either. There is so much more to this event than what we seem to be focusing on here.
Once we 'keyboard warriors' bash it to death and Redbull starts to read the crap comments on here, they'll do one of two things bugger off and everyone has lost out or turn it into a race with dumbed down courses and it'll be another UCI event which apparently pinkbike readers don't want!
And yes, some aren’t interested because they perceive the risks to not be worth the reward (Loic comes to mind). I personally respect that decision, but also feel it’s a bit lame and against the ethos of the dh / fr bike scene. Just my opinion though, and I hold nothing against the guy.
That said, it makes those that do choose to attend shine even brighter in my eyes.
It’s like when the likes of Gee Atherton would compete in rampage. What a f*cking savage that a guy with a racing pedigree has enough grit to come send it at what’s largely considered to be the pinnacle of free ride.
Hardline Tasmania offered a slightly different opportunity in that it was more akin to a race track the WC crowd is “used to” versus the welsh track that seemed to be less of a race and more like a rampage/“just happy to survive” kind of track, that also happens to be a race. It was so cool to hear people like Tommy G express how inspiring it was to see racers in their element and for him to improve his riding by osmosis.
I love the blended disciplines. And I don’t want this to replace WCDH, I just want a second series to watch and maybe even attend some day.
If the two events compete a little bit with each other, sounds good to me…it will make BOTH series better!!!!
None of the top 3 from last season were there. For starters the following weren’t there
Bruni
Verbier
Kolb
Coulanges
Illes
Hart
Hatton
Minnar
Pierron x2
Do you just make up stuff to suit your narrative?
The Event is hyped up as the best DH riders in the world racing the scary course in the world. I’m simply pointing out that it isn’t factually true. Whether most of the best weren’t there becuase they weren’t invited or were and declined doesn’t matter. The fact is they weren’t so the basic premis of the event is false.
Red Bull Hardline
Red Bull Hardline, the world’s toughest mountain bike race, adds a new event in Tasmania, Australia, on February 24th, as well as reaching its 10-year milestone in the Dyfi Valley, Wales, on June 1 and 2.
The gruelling track brings together the world's best and bravest riders, putting them through their paces in a challenging succession of mammoth jumps, boulder drops, technical puzzles and unrelenting weather. Hard by name, hard by nature.
And for the first time ever, Red Bull Hardline will also be taking place in Australia, at Maydena Bike Park, Tasmania, on February 23-24, 2024.
Red Bull Hardline 2024 will continue to promote equality of opportunity in downhill MTB.
Back in July 2023, one of downhill mountain biking’s most exciting talent Tahnee Seagrave led efforts to empower women on the Red Bull Hardline course. “Red Bull Hardline is the most difficult mountain bike race in the world,” she explains.
“We’ve seen so much progress by enabling female athletes to ride. We are approaching it in the right way, working towards supporting the progression at an attainable speed so that more girls can eventually get to tackle the course.”
You can stream all the action live via Red Bull TV and the Red Bull Bike YouTube channel. Look out for rider announcements right here.
Where does it state that it is the solely a DH event or that it is inclusive of all of the best riders? Personally, I consider that the field included a multitude of the best riders in the world.
Are your knickers in a knot just because you did not receive an invite?
(The OUCH! he uttered after crossing the finish line had me laughing though
Oz East coast time.
"Live" coverage on RB started at...5pm
Anyway, Tahnee on the commentry with Warner and Eliot was brilliant.
Brilliant epic racing. Ronan simply pulled it out of the bag (would Jackson have bested him??)
Shame about Brayton pushing too hard. He had the pace, could he have got onto the podium?? Next time Grandad....
I think its 750 hours... @pinkbike
I haven't seen much of Gracey racing, but she looked liked she was riding just hard enough to get to the bottom in one piece. Louise looked like she was trying to put together a race run.. Glad to see she was able to get up and finish. Finishing after those 2 wrecks deserves some recognition.
As for the prize money vs a WC DH win, remember guys like Bruni have contracts that pay them way more than the prize money.. It's not like the prize money is his only income. Plus, he probably has bonuses for wins, overall titles and World Champs.. Hardline may not pay him as much if it isn't in his contract. Risk vs reward... If Jackson misses a round or 2 from this, was it worth it? Hopefully he is healed up in time for the first WC round..
Typical glass half full pro RB propaganda. Absolute nonsense. RB is such a commercial force that they seem to escape any real scrutiny. Why not question their inability to broadcast it live?
People see what they want. This was a less entertaining race than almost every world cup for the last 5 years. Don't get me wrong it was worth watching, there are things that were good, and lots of room for improvement with UCI + Discovery
However I'm exhausted by the fake news and hyperbole behind this narrative where a giant fizzy drinks company saves the sport from the suits. People are just talking rubbish at this point and it would be nice if PB actually scrutinised the arguments properly
They had the whole planet to choose from
The fact that only 2 of the girls could put together a full run tells me that it's significantly harder than any of the WC rounds where they (the ones that race) don't find it too much of a struggle to qualify.