Red Bull Hardline -- the race that began on a steep Welsh hillside in 2014 -- has officially announced its first-ever event in Canada, with Cypress Mountain in British Columbia confirmed as the venue for October 2026. It is only the third location in the series' history, and the announcement comes with a twist for British fans: the Dyfi Valley will sit this one out, with Wales returning in 2027 on a brand-new track.

The British Columbia event takes place on 17 October 2026 at Cypress Mountain, located just north of Vancouver on the North Shore -- a region widely regarded as one of the birthplaces of freeride mountain biking. The course has been designed by Dan and Gee Atherton and built in collaboration with an experienced team of trail builders and riders, with input from two of Canada's most celebrated downhill athletes: Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet.

Finding the right location was not straightforward. Dan Atherton has described two years of searching before Cypress Mountain was confirmed. "When you think of BC riding, you think of huge rock slabs, massive trees, amazing dirt, kind of first-generation growth -- so to find a location that ticked all those boxes was insanely difficult," he said. "Luckily, we had local riders like Jackson there on the ground, and even then, it took two years of searching to finally find a location. The guys did amazingly, and it's going to be pretty special."

Both Goldstone and Hemstreet have shaped the course, as well as being among the riders expected to line up on it. Hemstreet, the reigning Hardline champion who has won back-to-back Tasmania events and become the first woman to claim two Hardline victories, has already walked the track. "After walking the future Red Bull Hardline track, I'm pretty intimidated but excited -- I think this will be the best one yet," she said. "Everyone's going to be so stoked, and the crowd is going to be huge. Bringing Red Bull Hardline to Canada is something everyone has wanted, and it's super exciting; it's finally happening."

For Goldstone, who won Hardline in 2022 and took the 2025 UCI Downhill World Cup Overall title, the event carries particular weight. "It's going to be crazy to have the full circle moment of coming back to race a massive event at home, as we haven't really had that before," he said. "To have Red Bull Hardline coming to our hometown is going to be a big milestone. It will be cool to see the views too, and how the terrain links up to the track, overlooking the ocean and downtown Vancouver."

The course will follow the Hardline template: features borrowed from dirt jumping and BMX that are not permitted under UCI and World Cup rules. That means massive jumps and gaps, drops exceeding 10 metres, rock gardens, and steep descents. It is a format that exists specifically because the Athertons wanted to build something that World Cup racing could not contain.

For a UK audience, the context matters. Hardline is a British invention. Dan and Gee Atherton created it in the Dyfi Valley in mid-Wales -- a course on a private hillside, run on their own terms, drawing the best riders in the world to a corner of Snowdonia most people couldn't find on a map. Twelve years on, that same concept is being built on a mountain above Vancouver. Gee Atherton put it plainly during early scouting: "When you jump 10 years down the line to now, suddenly we're in Canada, we're in BC, it's hard to comprehend what it was and what it's turning into now."

The 2026 Welsh round is not happening -- the Dyfi Valley course is taking a year out ahead of a new track planned for 2027, described as continuing "the event's evolution and building on more than a decade of progression." That will be one to watch. For now, the series heads west, and the sport goes with it.

All the action from Cypress Mountain will be broadcast live on Red Bull TV on 17 October. Tickets will be announced in the coming months.

photo & video credit: Red Bull Content Pool