At the beginning of next month (February) the eyes of the world will once again focus on the quiet little town of Maydena on the Island of Tasmania, for the hottest ticket in all of MTB! As the event draws closer and closer, and event ticket sales are nearly sold out – we caught up with the man behind Red Bull Hardline Maydena, Simon French, to get the latest news about how the biggest ticket in Aussie MTB is shaping up during the final count down to ‘go’ day!
[R]: I’m sure everyone reading this will have seen footage from Red Bull Hardline Maydena’s previous epic events, and the action is always mind blowing! However, you would have to agree that watching the live stream online for an event like Red Bull Hardline Maydena simply does not even come close to doing the event justice – you really need to be down there in the flesh, trackside, witnessing the gigantic scale of the course and mind blowing speed of the riders right there in front of your own eyes, right!?
Simon: The broadcast team do an amazing job shooting the event, but there is just no way you can convey the true size of the features with a camera. There is nothing like standing trackside watching a rider sail off a 12m high drop cliff drop, or across an 80ft canyon jump at 75+km/h.
Red Bull Hardline brings together the World’s fastest and most fearless riders, competing on a course that is so big, and so technically challenging that even the riders we mentioned above can barely make it down the mountain. Even the practise days are amazing to spectate, then of course the main event comes on race day when the riders put it all on the line – how do you describe the atmosphere to someone that hasn’t yet been to Maydena to experience a Red Bull Hardline event?
Red Bull Hardline is a really unique event, with a small group of athletes who are at the absolute top of their game. Everything about the event is built to showcase the absolute bleeding edge of what’s possible on a bike, which makes for an electric atmosphere. We work really hard to create an epic in-venue experience, maximising course access and viewing areas, and building out a massive program of entertainment and activities across the week.
The confirmed invited rider list for this year’s event (which can be found here: www.redbull.com/au-en/events/red-bull-hardline-australia/riders-2026) appears too good to be true! Has Red Bull Hardline Maydena now become so recognised right around the globe that riders are begging for the opportunity to come down to Aus and be a part of the spectacle? Like, really, we’ve never seen a line up or riders ever compiled ready to take part in an race down here in Oz. We’re talking more fire power than a DH World Cup, DH World Champs and a Crankworx plus a Rampage combined for the start list you guys are boasting for this February?
We are absolutely stoked with this year’s rider list- where else do you get to see living legends like Aaron Gwin and Sam Hill racing against the next generation of DH royalty like Asa Vermette and Jackson Goldstone?! There is huge demand for entries to the event at Maydena- the athletes love the course and venue, and the event is now known for delivering an epic athlete experience. I’m always stoked to see such a strong list of local Aussie talent as well.
On paper within the men’s and woman’s start lists there are set to be so many interesting mini battles; when you consider there’s going to be a re-peat of the young guns (and last years podium 1-2 duo) of Canadian World Champ Jackson Goldstone going back up against USA wonder kid Asa Vermette. Plus, across at the top of the stacked woman’s field there’ll be the battle for gold between the likes of Gracey Hemstreet and Lou Ferguson laying down blazing runs will be a site no MTB fan will want to miss. And then, of course, how could be not mention the sheer star power that will be out on track between some of downhill racing’s ‘greatest of all times’ with Aaron Gwin going up against Sam Hill and Troy Brosnan and a host of other huge names. It has to be said that the action out on track at this years event is going to be nothing short of MEGA, eh?
The calibre of athletes we have in 2026 is amazing, and there will be a bunch of races within the race. I’m super excited to see Sam Hill and Aaron Gwin battle it out, but the pointy end of both men’s and women’s will be absolutely next level! It would be tough to bet against Gracey Hemstreet in the women’s, though Lou Ferguson will definitely be in the mix for a win. For the men, it is likely to be a battle between Asa Vermette and Jackson for the top of the box, though an on form Troy Brosnan will definitely be one to watch.
Will there be opportunities to meet some of those riders to grab an autograph and a selfie?
Absolutely- there will be a bunch of opportunities to get time with the athletes!
Rob Warner ‘the golden voice of MTB’ has flown out to commentate the event in previous years, will he be back gracing the microphone again for this years race?
Rob is definitely back for another year! Rob and Elliot will also be hosting a live podcast on stage on Friday night of event week.
Heck yeah! Tell us about some of the changes that have been made to the track for this years events, upgrades and new features?
The Red Bull Hardline event has always been about continual progression, which means each year we look to change up the course, making it bigger, and better. This year we have a whole new top section, which is slower speed and more technical. We will be making a bunch of other tweaks down the course, and have also made the (already massive) Road Gap feature even bigger!
Tickets are currently on sale and we know that they’re selling fast. What kind of ticketing options and event packages are being offered?
It has been crazy, all single-day General Admission tickets have now completely sold out! Currently we do still have limited tickets still available for 2-day passes, and we’ve also just released a new 1 day ticket option, but all available tickets are selling out fast so if anyone reading this is keen to attend this years event they had better jump online to secure a ticket right away!
What’s the link for to grab tickets?
www.maydenabikepark.com/red-bull-hardline-gravity-fest/
Accommodation wise, are there still some options to book right there in town or should people consider booking in Hobart and commuting in each day (which is actually pretty easy, we’ve done that ourselves quite a few times for some of Maydena’s bigger events over the years)?
Accommodation in town is likely booked up now. We do have camping on offer working with a property owner just down the road in National Park (with a free shuttle bus service to the venue). As you say, Hobart is the other option, which is only a little over an hours drive away.
Whilst the riding action out on course is easily enough to justify booking a trip to Tassie, tell us a bit about everything else spectators and fans can look forward to Hardline Maydena this year?
The weekend before Red Bull Hardline we our Maydena Cup DH event, and a massive program of youth racing in Kids Fest. Beyond the riding and racing we have a massive program of live music, a live photo show with Sven Martin and Graeme Murray, live podcasts, group rides, industry events, and more.
Will the bike park still be operating during the event for riders that might want to bring their bikes to experience those incredibly unique Maydena trails?
We have shuttles running every day of event week (other than the Saturday and Sunday race days) for those who are keen to ride!
Cheers for taking some time out of your busy schedule to chat with us today mate, we can see from Maydena’s social media pages that it’s crazy busy down there getting all of the finishing touches made to the race track and getting the event village all set-up. Bring on the 7 – 8th of February when it will all be going down in Tassie town!
We’re excited for it to all get underway very shortly! [R]