When the world’s most exciting freeride mountain bike contest Natural Selection Bike was held on Mt Dewar in Queenstown in February local riders were stoked.

New Zealand’s top freeride mountain bike athlete Robin Goomes, who won the prestigious Red Bull Rampage 2024, says it was brilliant that the competition came to Aotearoa.

“There is such a sick mountain bike scene here and everyone was fizzed to get amongst it. There are already so many talented young riders in New Zealand and I think having this on our doorstep pushes them to the next level.”

Formerly known as Proving Grounds the competition is now part of the Natural Selection Tour which is expanding from its snowboarding roots to include mountain biking, surfing, and skiing.

Event Director Sophie Luther says the competition provided a fantastic opportunity for homegrown riders to shine in front of a global audience.

“We were thrilled to give New Zealand based riders the chance to compete at home against the world’s best.There is such a talented mountain bike community in New Zealand and many passionate and inspiring riders were able to compete in our beautiful backyard.”

Natural Selection Bike featured riders from six countries with a crowd of around 1,500 people gathering at Mt Dewar to watch the action. The competition featured a men’s and women’s division blending three of mountain biking’s most dynamic disciplines – Big Mountain Freeride, Slopestyle and Downhill.

Poland’s Szymon Godziek and Cami Nogueira from Argentina laid down incredible runs to earn the top men’s and women’s podium spots respectively.  In the women’s division Hannah Bergemann (USA) placed second with Kirsten Van Horne (Canada) third while on the men’s side, Carson Storch (USA) finished runner-up followed by Louis Reboul (FRA) in third. Adolf Silva (Spain) claimed the Best Trick Award with a massive superman while Finley Kirschenmann (USA) earned the Best Style Award.

“It’s been a massive effort to create this incredible course and bring a world-class freeride mountain bike event here,” says Sophie.

“A special thanks to the government for supporting the event through its Major Events Fund and to philanthropist and mountain bike enthusiast Rod Drury for his vision and dedication in making this event a reality. Natural Selection Bike is an annual event and we look forward to returning to this beautiful site in 2026 for another awesome competition.”