With no geo-restrictions for Hardline you can watch for free through the Red Bull app, or Red Bull's YouTube channel
Red Bull Hardline Australia takes place this weekend, the gnarliest downhill race in the gravity calendar… and also the newest. What started in the Dyfi Valley has spread to Tasmania for round one of the series, with round two taking place back at the Dyfi Valley this summer on June 1-2.
Last year we speculated that a full-blown Red Bull Hardline race series would be better than the UCI World Cup, and while two rounds hardly makes a series, the course and rider start list doesn’t disappoint.
It’s literally the A-Team of steezy riders lining up to race Hardline, with Bernard Kerr, Kade Edwards, Kaos Seagrave, Laurie Greenland and Josh Bryceland, Tahnee Seagrave and Louise-Anna Ferguson there from the UK. Check out the first big hits as riders practice the course…
You can expect a mixup of downhill racers and freeriders then, reflecting the fact that Hardline blurs the line between the two disciplines. That means we’ll also World Cup winner Jackson Goldstone bumping shoulders (well, not quite) with French freerider Vinny T.
They’ll joined by 15 other pre-qualified riders, and 13 more wildcard entries, mostly from Australia and New Zealand. Sadly Gee Atherton won’t be there as he’s still recovering from his big stack at Rampage last year.
Hardline is no bike park: Jackson Goldstone pinballs into a techie rock garden. Credit: Red Bull
Red Bull Hardline track
Maydena Bike Park will host the race, with the track covering some 600m of vertical descent as it cuts across the established trail network. Every part of the new line has been cut in from scratch for the race, and it looks wild.
It’s definitely a different feel to Dyfi, obviously it’s much drier and the rocks seem less slippery, but the course is crammed with gaps, technical rock gardens, cliff drops and some of the biggest jumps you’ve ever seen. Check out Bernard Kerr’s full lap you’ll see how sketchy the whole thing looks…
The track is 2.3km in length, the biggest gaps are 75ft and the biggest drop north of 10m. Red Bull reckons it’ll take riders some 3.5 minutes to complete the course.
Head to the Red Bull YouTube page and click on the Live tab to watch the race on Saturday
When will the racing take place and where can I watch it?
Hardline is free to watch live through the Red Bull TV app, or you can watch it through YouTube. The race is scheduled to take place at 7am UK time (7am UTC) on Saturday February 24th. At previous Dyfi Hardlines we’ve also been able to watch the qualifying, but this isn’t an option this time around, so you’ll have to catch up through the vloggers.
Fortunately there’s no paywall or geo-restrictions on watching the Hardline, unlike Rampage which requires an ESPN+ subscription if you’re in the US.
If you’re not in the UK then live streaming Rampage 2024 for free is still an option – all you have to do is download and install a VPN and use a location inside the United Kingdom to watch the broadcast live as if you were back home.
Brook Macdonald sends the big road gap at Hardline Credit: Red Bull
The full rider list
| Ronan Dunne (IRL) | Thomas Genon (BEL) |
| Jackson Goldstone (CAN) | Reed Boggs (USA) |
| Bernard Kerr (UK) | Juan Diego ‘Johnny’ Salido (MEX) |
| Laurie Greenland (UK) | Tahnee Seagrave (UK) |
| Kade Edwards (UK) | Louise-Anna Ferguson (UK) |
| Brook MacDonald (NZL) | Cami Nogueira (ARG) |
| Thibault Laly (FRA) | Hannah Bergmann (US) |
| Kaos Seagrave (UK) | Jim Monro (UK) |
| Adam Brayton (UK) | Theo Erlangsen (SA) |
| Edgar Briole (FRA) | Matteo Iniguez (FRA) |
| Camillo Sanchez (COL) | Josh Bryceland (UK) |
| Vincet Tupin (FRA) | Gaetan Vige (FRA) |
TASMANIA WILD CARD RIDERS
| Baxter Maiwald (AUS) | Dan Booker (AUS) |
| Sam Gale (NZL) | Ed Masters (NZL) |
| Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) | Remy Morton (AUS) |
| George Branningan (NZL) | Gracey Hemstreet (CAN) |
| Connor Fearon (AUS) | Darcy Coutts (AUS) |
| Harriet Burbidge-Smith (AUS) | Remy Meier-Smith (AUS) |
| Dennis Luffman (UK) |