Red Bull Hardline Tasmania returns in 2026, bringing the world’s toughtest downhill riders back to the Maydena wilderness as the event marks it’s 12th year.
Hard by name, hard by nature. There’s a reason Red Bull Hardline has a reputation for being the gnarliest downhill MTB race on the planet—it asks riders to face not just each other but a course designed deliberately to knock even the strongest athletes off balance. Next February, the event returns to Maydena Bike Park in Tasmania for its third Australian edition, promising a longer, faster and more technically demanding track than ever before. The 2026 race also marks 12 years since Hardline’s debut in the Welsh hills, a nod to how far the event has come and how much further it intends to push the sport.
The Tasmanian stop has quickly earned its place in Hardline folklore.
Since the event first migrated from North Wales, Maydena’s towering forests, unpredictable weather and unforgiving terrain have proven the ideal testing ground for the world’s fastest racers and bravest free riders. Designed and built by Australian trail-building specialists Dirt Art, the bike park spans more than 100km of trails carved into steep wilderness, with everything from high speed lines to chunky free ride sections.
For Hardline, it becomes something else entirely: a battleground.
A RISING LEGACY
The 2025 edition set a fierce benchmark.
More than 20 male and female riders took on the rough and dusty Tasmanian dirt, each one hoping to secure one of mountain biking’s most coveted crowns.
When the dust finally settled, Canada stood atop both podiums—Jackson Goldstone in the men’s, and Gracey Hemstreet in the women’s.
Goldstone’s run was described as flawless, finishing just 0.233 seconds ahead of fastest qualifier and Hardline newcomer Asa Vermette. Veteran Australian Troy Brosnan completed the podium, giving the home crowd something to cheer. Hemstreet, meanwhile, stormed the track to claim back-to-back women’s titles, cementing her reputation as the undisputed queen of Hardline.
Their performances only intensify the anticipation around 2026, with both returning athletes expected to feature prominently in the next chapter of the event’s story.
THE NUMBERS
Every year, Hardline’s course designers raise the stakes, and the 2026 layout is no exception. The latest track stretches 3.6km and drops riders through 650 metres of vertical elevation—much of it at speeds nudging 80km/h. Along the way, they’ll hit an 80-foot gap jump, navigate multiple 10-metre vertical drops and negotiate terrain that swings wildly between steep forest lines and open, wind-exposed ridgelines.
At its highest point, the course sits 925 metres above sea level. From there, riders launch into a series of new features crafted specifically for the upcoming race. A brand-new top section, revealed after months of intensive construction, promises to push even Hardline veterans into unfamiliar territory.
Course designer Simon French—also the mind behind Maydena Bike Park—says the landscape itself is the key ingredient. “On the edge of Tasmania’s Southwest Wilderness, Maydena Bike Park has provided a perfect canvas for developing a course that’s befitting of the Red Bull Hardline legacy,” he says. “Using nearly 600m of vertical elevation, the course takes in a huge diversity of forest types, terrain and trail features. After a massive few months of construction, we look forward to welcoming riders on the course soon and their reactions to new sections and a longer track.”
It’s a design philosophy that reflects the Hardline identity: part downhill racing, part free ride spectacle, and entirely uninterested in comfort zones.
EVOLUTION IN REAL TIME
Hardline began in 2014 as an experiment: a course built by former professional rider Dan Atherton in the remote Dyfi Valley of Wales, designed to blur the lines between motocross, BMX and downhill mountain biking. Over a decade later, the experiment has become a benchmark—one that each new course must exceed.
Maydena’s arrival on the Hardline circuit has coincided with broader shifts in the sport, including its increasing commitment to women’s progression.
The addition of a women’s field in Tasmania has not just expanded participation but raised the competitive standard. Hemstreet’s 2025 victory, and her earlier history-making finals run alongside Louise-Anna Ferguson, signalled a turning point for the event and helped accelerate Hardline’s reputation as a proving ground for the sport’s most progressive riders.
With the women’s field back for 2026, expectations are high that the competition will be faster, more technical and more closely fought.
A TEST OF NERVE AND SKILL
For all its prestige, Hardline is still fundamentally an invite-only event.
Riders must earn their place, not only through speed but through technical skill, mental resilience and a willingness to face features that many professionals would consider unrideable. Part of the challenge lies in the limited practice window: riders spend a week learning the course, gradually building up the confidence to hit its biggest jumps. For some, that means stepping back when conditions turn ugly; for others, it’s an opportunity to put everything on the line.
That willingness to risk it all is part of what makes Hardline so compelling for spectators. Over two days, fans witness everything from calculated precision to outright chaos, with riders balancing on the edge between control and catastrophe. Seeding runs on Saturday 7th February will set the tone, before the full spectacle unfolds in the final on Sunday 8 February.
A MOUNTAIN, A MOMENT, A MOVEMENT
As the event approaches, one thing is clear: Hardline isn’t simply a race. It’s a statement about what downhill mountain biking can be when innovation meets audacity. It’s an annual reminder that the sport’s boundaries are still being rewritten, trick by trick, drop by drop, track by track.
For Maydena, hosting the world’s toughest downhill event is both an honour and a challenge. For the riders, it’s a chance to etch their name into a sport shaped by risk-takers and trailblazers. And for the fans, 2026 promises another weekend of heart-in mouth moments, raw athleticism and the kind of courage that continues to define Hardline’s legacy.
As the countdown begins, the only certainty is that Tasmania is ready—and the riders will have to be, too.
Photography: Brett Hemmings / Graeme Murray / Redbull content pool
