Mountain biking's cliff-hucking, steez-staging, freeride extravaganza in the desert is coming soon, and here's how you can catch all the action live and direct!
It’s Red Bull Rampage time again and the big news this year is the iconic freeride event now spans two days, not one, after the addition of a women’s event for 2024. That means you now get double the excitement, terror, and jaw dropping moments of brilliance watching the world’s best freeriders do their thing.
So here’s our complete guide to the event, from the websites to watch it on, when to click that live stream button, how to escape the ESPN+ paywall (via Nord VPN), and which riders to look out for.
Casey Brown sends it a Proving Grounds in 2019, she leads a packed women’s field for Rampage this year
Where and when to watch Red Bull Rampage 2024
Red Bull is your go to option for watching both the women’s and men’s events. You can either stream it on redbull.com or via the brand’s YouTube site – just click the Live tab to find it. Rampage takes place between October 10th and October 12, 2024.
US TV timings
If you’re in the US or Canada you can catch the women’s event on Thursday, October 10th at 9pm Eastern Time, 8pm Central Time, 7pm Mountain Time, and 6pm Pacific Time.
Bienvenido Aguado Alba pulls off a ludicrous superman in his run at the 2023 event
The Men’s event is on Saturday, October 12th and earlier in the day in the US: catch it at midday if you’re on Eastern Time, 11am Central Time, 10am Mountain Time, and 9am Pacific Time.
You need an ESPN+ subscription to watch the racing in North America, which really sucks given you can watch it free elsewhere. If you’re travelling in the US from elsewhere in the world though, all you need is a subscription to Nord VPN so you can watch for free.
UK and European TV timings
If you’re in the UK and Europe the women’s event technically takes place on a different day, Friday October 11th, at the ridiculous time of 1am in the UK, or 2am in the rest of Western Europe. Maybe pull an all-nighter?
The men’s event is much better for us lot across the pond, it’s Saturday, October 12th at 5pm in the UK, or 6pm in the rest of Europe.
Brendan Fairclough rides Dwayne Johnson (aka, the Rock, geddit?) at the 2019 event
Men’s and women’s courses
Rampage takes place at the same place, at Virgin in Utah, but there are two courses in 2024 adjacent to one another. The men will compete at the site last used in 2019, incredibly it’s actually steeper and higher than last year’s course, adding some 150ft in elevation. Anyone remember Brendan Fairclough’s Dwayne Johnson drop, which saw him step down off that enormous house-sized boulder? Yup, we’re back there again.
The women get a completely fresh course to build their lines into, the first new location since 2018. This is pretty cool because most of Rampage actually happens before the event day itself, as the riders hack their lines into the cliffs. This is a blank canvas for the eight women to work with, and they’ll all be starting from scratch rather than working on pre-existing favourite lines.
The less than glamorous side of Rampage. Brendan Fairclough told us he’s band from shovelling in the days before the event, to save his hands
How Rampage works
Besides the Olympics XCO, and Red Bull Hardline, Rampage is the only mountain bike event my non-riding partner will watch. That’s pretty revealing and tells you something about just how great a spectacle it is.
Most of the real work happens before the actual event day, with three days of digging and four days of practice. There’s no set course to ride down, instead each rider builds their own line with the help of two digging mates. There are no power tools allowed so most of the work is done with shovels and picks. The athletes get just 100 sandbags each, the idea being to make the riding more natural and prevent Rampage becoming too trick-orientated.
Into the abyss, Brendan Fairclough sends the canyon gap in 2022
How to watch Red Bull Rampage for free
Last year Red Bull Rampage was hidden behind a paywall in the US, with a $10.99 a month subscription to ESPN+ requited to watch the action live. If you want to watch it for free though Red Bull TV screens it all live for nothing, all you need is a subscription to Nord VPN.
Setting up a VPN is simple – just download, install, open the app and select your location.
Try out Nord VPN for its speed, security and simplicity to use. It is also compatible with a range of devices and streaming services (e.g. Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox, PS4, etc.), giving you the option to watch wherever you want.
Mr Smooth himself, Brandon Semenuk is back for the 2024 Rampage after missing last year to race rally cars
Men’s Rampage start list
There are eighteen riders on the men’s roster, in one of the most conservative Rampage lineups in history.
There are seven pre-qualified athletes (following Emil Johansson’s decision to pull out through injury) including Cam Zink, Kyle Strait and Carson Storch, but there’s no Gee Atherton on the books, he’s busy off riding big mountains now anyway, in Gee Atherton’s Ridgeline 5 … besides, I don’t think I could take watching another crash. There are also 10 Wildcard riders.
There’s no place for the likes of the brutally visceral Brage Vestavik or stylish British up and comers Kaos Seagrave and Kade Edwards, which is a real shame.
Emil Johansson is out through injury, with Ethan Nell stepping in to fill the space
Qualified riders:
- Cam Zink (USA)
- Tom Van Steenbergen (CAN)
- Carson Storch (USA)
- Brendan Fairclough (GBR)
- Talus Turk (USA)
- Kyle Strait (USA)
- Emil Johansson (SWE) (now out through injury)
- Bienvenido Aguado Alba (ESP)
10 wildcard riders:
- Adolf Silva (ESP)
- Brandon Semenuk (CAN)
- Clemens Kaudela (AUT)
- Kurt Sorge (CAN)
- Luke Whitlock (USA)
- Reed Boggs (USA)
- Szymon Godziek (POL)
- Thomas Genon (BEL)
- Tom Isted (GBR)
- Tyler McCaul (USA)
- Ethan Nell (USA)
No Jaxson Riddle at Rampage in 2024
Finally, there are four alternates:
- DJ Brandt (USA)
- Jaxson Riddle (USA)
- Hayden Zablotny (USA)
- Dylan Stark (USA)
Vaea Verbeeck (right) at the Dual Slalom, Crankworxs in Cairns, 2022
Who’s on the women’s start list?
The strength and depth of talent in women’s freeriding means 2024 will see an eight rider start list, although it’s been whittled down recently with an injury to Hannah Bergemann and a scheduling conflict with Jess Blewitt.
- Camila Nogueira (ARG)
- Casey Brown (CAN)
- Chelsea Kimball (USA)
- Robin Goomes (NZL)
- Vaea Verbeeck (CAN)
- Vero Sandler (UK)
- Vinny Armstrong (NZL)
- Georgia Astle (CAN)
Alternate:
Micayla Gatto (CAN)
Cam Zink dropping in to win Rampage in 2023, this year the venue will change but Zink’s probably still our favourite to win
Who won in 2022 and 2023?
Brett Rheeder won in 2022 but retired after the event and didn’t compete in 2023. And with Semenuk off racing rally cars, Cam Zink took first place, Tom Van Steenbergen second and Carson Storch third. Brendan Fairclough was robbed of a podium place despite his mind blowing run that saw him jump onto a crumbling outcrop of rock nicknamed The Battleship. Our guess is he has the wrong fizzy drink sponsor.
The 2023 podium