World Hard Enduro Podcast

Sea to Sky is the penultimate round of the Hard Enduro World Championship. Heading into this race would determine what both the premier and junior championship would look like heading to Hispanic and buy did it change up the game and make things interesting! This event consists of 3 race days consisting of the Beach race, forest race and mountain race. Many riders and fans shared that this is not only one of the most enjoyable events on the calendar but this year organization was a step up from previous years with 350 riders lining up along with family and friends. 
The beach race started the weekend off with a bang. A knockout format saw the top 12 riders making it to the final round with a new leader in almost every lap. It was a day of not only technical ups enduro style riding but intensity and action too. The Forest race was a 40km GPS race over a track that had a lot of new track this year in combination with some existing tracks. Not too fast and dangerous, but not too technical either. A sweet spot between the two. This day certain came with some surprises like Mani and Mario both receiving 10 minute penalties as well as some unexpected crashes from the top guys. 
The mountain race is where riders put it all on the line. Mario starting from P15, Mani playing catchup after a penalty and some of the juniors looking to take essential points for their championship fight. Another impressive performance from James finishing in P3, Mario showing what he’s made of finishing P2 overall against all odds and Mani once again taking the top spot. A very unfortunate turn for Teo with a DSQ after the final day. What was initially given as a similar 10 minute penalty to other riders of the weekend was changed to a disqualification after a rider protest. Of course rules are there to be enforced but when it takes such an unexpected turn initiated by a fellow rider, some might see that as a bit personal? 
We chat on a variety of other topics throughout the episode and are excited to see what will happen at the final round in Spain in a couple weeks.
We hope you enjoy this episode! 

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:10 HEWC Round 7: Sea to Sky 
01:54 Event format: Beach race, forest race & mountain race 
02:07 The beach race
09:29 Taking a break between races
10:35 The forest race
12:54 Absent riders 
14:29 Forest Race penalties 
17:27 Unexpected crashed
22:44 What makes a good test rider?
24:28 Testing and prototypes
28:36 Junior championship update
29:33 Mountain race day
35:00 Coming out swinging
40:17 James in the lead again
41:27 Teo's disqualification and a protest culture debate
54:08 Race results
57:28 Junior championship going into Hixpania
01:00:17 Looking ahead to Hixpania

Teo had barbed wire caught in his wheel. No assistance received from officials but some locals offering to cut it off. Should that have been a disqualification, a time penalty, or no penalty at all? It’s a genuine grey area and we’d love to know where you stand. Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓
Support the show
Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro
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The Roof, the mother of hard enduro and a race that we hold deeply in our hearts just as any South African would. James returned this year looking to defend his title but the rest of the South African boys had much to prove to show that they too are able to take the title at a race close to home. Heading into this race it was assumed that the European riders would struggle but that wasn’t quite how it went down. We chat to Mike to get some insight from on the ground. 
This was the first year we saw a bit of a change with the format of the event. Time trial on da one and a long off-road day 2 were consistent with what you’d expect but a multi-lap format for Day 3 was something that catered more to the international riders and evened the playing field. Talking about international riders there were some noteworthy names missing this year. We also chat about how it works logistically for some of the team to race in Lesotho. 
Day one saw Mitch make an impressive run but due to GPS issues it would be James taking the number 1 spot along with a boost of confidence. We of course touch on the topic of another noteworthy South African rider, Wade Young who appeared to approach this race slightly differently this year with a welcoming spirit. Day 2 would be a tough pill to swallow for some of the top riders which would open opportunities for unexpected name to float to the top and keep the win open to the final day. 
Day 3 would bring out the best in most of the riders at the Roof. James made an impressive charge to set the fastest time of the day by 5 minutes, Matt green would have a lot of GPS issues but still finish with an impressive result. Thence had the top 3… Teodor taking his first ever FIM win,  on the Sherco. A rider who’s been chasing a win for a long time finally gets to celebrate with his Shercota. Mani keeping consistent as usual taking 2nd and then only 1 SECOND behind we have Wade finishing the podium in P3. A solid performance and a great result for the South African
We hope you enjoy this episode! 

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:35 The 2026 edition
02:05 Track overview 
03:00 What makes Lesotho so special
07:04 Who wasn't there and why 
08:13 Bike logistics
09:30 Day 1 time trial
16:39 Time trial results 
17:55 Day 2
19:04 James Moore's mousse disaster
31:09 How navigation racing works
35:12 Day 2 results
39:25 Day 3: The first ever multi-lap format 
43:55 Overall results
44:38 A tenth of a second 
46:06 Wade Young back on the podium
49:22 Standout rides
51:28 Championship implications

10 hours of racing came down to 0.1 of a second between Mani and Wade. What did you think of the result? Have you ever been to Roof of Africa … to race, spectate or just experience it? Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓
Support the show
Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro
You can also connect with us on socials such as Insta and Youtube
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We had the chance to have Thomas Scales on the podcast. A young South African rider making waves in the Hard Enduro World Championship. It was surprising to learn that Tom is relatively new to hard enduro but has strong roots and a foundation racing in SA. For the past few years he has been focused on the Junior World Championship had in 2025 finished the season I 3rd overall. This year it is clear that he’s stepping up his game and focusing his sights on the pro championship class and looking to be amongst the top riders in the world. 
This season Tom has been on an upward trajectory with his riding and results and if the trend continues we may see some spectacular results in the upcoming Roof of Africa. We chat to Tom about his expectations for the race which for many young riders from SA is a dream race to place top at. Many refer to Tom as a daring and somewhat crazy rider out on the trails but he is also a confident athlete looking to make his mark in the industry. 
We cover a variety of topics in the episode such as life in Europe and what it’s been like as part of the Beta team. Tom shares his training schedule and some of the key things he’s been doing to improve his race performance. We also chat about some more interesting topics like downhill MTB riding and what it would taker to get Greg Minaar to the ROA. 
We hope you enjoy this episode! 
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:16 Where it all began
03:27 Teammate, roommate & rival 
05:12 Toughest race of the season
06:07 First year on the Beta factory team
07:31 Bike setup
10:05 Life in Andorra
11:07 The downhill MTB question
12:17 Getting Greg Minaar to the Roof of Africa
13:28 Roof of Africa 
14:35 What makes South Africans so good at Roof of Africa? 
15:18 The fearless riding style
16:00 Format changes at the Roof
18:35 What it takes to beat Mani
19:13 The mindset shift
20:02 The stacked junior class
20:34 South Africans in the HEWC
21:28 Racing as the fastest route to improvement 
26:16 Trials bikes in South Africa 
27:01 Training schedule
27:27 Best advice for SA kids
33:54 The height debate
38:36 Going back to riding basics
38:49 Nutrition 
Tom said it straight, he wants to WIN Roof of Africa, not just finish. With the race just days away ad with a changeup in the format, do you think a South African can once again take the top step this year, and is Tom your pick? Drop your prediction in the comments ↓↓↓
Support the show
Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro
You can also connect with us on socials such as Insta and Youtube
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A big thank you to our community for the continued support. This one was a special opportunity and episode and we couldn't do it without you. If you enjoy what we do and want to keep us caffeinated while we edit, you're welcome to buy us a coffee here: https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro
We had the opportunity to visit Stark HQ on our way to Romaniacs this year and sat down with Eddie Karlsson and Seb Tortelli to talk about Stark in Hard Enduro. From Eddie winning the Silver class at Romaniacs to Seb taking the top spot at the Erzberg Rocket Ride and of course Stark crossing the Erzberg finish line in a world first… Stark has slowly but surely been inserting itself in the world of hard enduro and we’re stoked! 
Stark is essentially a tech company that sells bikes… and what the team has created is an ever evolving bike. They paved the foundations from the beginning with their forward thinking manufacturing which now allows for constant tech updates that put the standard year on year model changes to shame. Instead of buying the latest release, customers are getting a new bike with an update. Who would have thought?
We chat to Eddie about his experience moving to the Stark, transitioning from trials which is a clutch intensive sport to a bike with just a front and back brake. We also touch on what it’s like to have Toby part of the team and how they have very different preferences when it comes to bike setup. 
While Stark won't be racing the remainder of the HEWC season, this year is clearly just the beginning. The momentum is building and we have a feeling this is a team that's going to be very hard to ignore in the years to come.
We hope you enjoy this episode! 
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:20 Inside Stark Future HQ with Eddie Karlsson & Seb Tortelli 
02:15 How rider feedback shapes the bike
03:22 Racing bike vs consumer bike 
05:25 Enduro vs MX bike
06:25 Riding without a clutch
09:17 Super Enduro 
09:50 Romaniacs silver class
14:08 Erzberg debrief
16:11 First electric bike to finish Erzberg
16:30 Seb Tortelli at Erzberg
18:27 Competing electric manufacturers
21:07 Traction control in hard enduro
25:01 Electric bikes in racing regulations
27:37 Hard enduro championship goals
34:09 The electric bike online debate
35:36 Eddie VS Toby 
37:10 Seb's take on hard enduro
38:42 How the HEWC format helps electric
Are you a fan of electric in hard enduro? Or do you think the 2T and 4T still have too much of an edge? Also, have you ever ridden a Stark? Let us know in the comments, we'd love to hear what you thought of it ↓↓↓
Support the show
Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro
You can also connect with us on socials such as Insta and Youtube
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We have officially passed the half way mark of the season and are well into the second half with round 5 taking place at Abestone Hard Enduro in Italy. A race that has been part of the FIM championship on and off for 4 years since 2021. Minestrone is a section of the race that has been well known since the beginning but this year appears to be the defining section and the true test and separator between the top guys. 
We chat to Mike to get some on the ground stories and a behind the scenes look at what went down. From prologue with 2 juniors on the box we look a look at some of the stats and it was surprising to see Both Mani and Mitch being so wrong in this format throughout the season so far. The spring race proved to be quite a challenge for the riders, although only 1 hour the heat added an extra layer of intensity to the race. A unique race added to this event was the straight rhythm which set the starting positions for the orders for the main race day. This was an unfortunate setup for a number of riders who did exceptionally well in the print race but got pushed back due to poor results in this spectator focused event. 
The main race was a 2 hour run for the riders that resulted in being around 6 laps for the top guys. Some good riders, some not so great results too. There is no doubt that riders who have been traveling between Europe and the US and then back to Europe have been struggling with jet lag and it’s no surprise that we’re seeing some changeup in the results. 
We also touch on topics such as managing frustration when on track, where riders are standing in the championship so far as well as what riders can expect heading to The Roof Of Africa for the next round.
We hope you enjoy this episode!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
13:42 Listener appreciation 
14:02 Event format explained
15:06 The straight rhythm  
17:44 Prologue
22:05 Sprint race results
25:14 Main race conditions
29:30 Aggression vs efficiency 
31:09 Frustration in hard enduro
34:22 Billy's return
35:04 The last lap battle 
37:05 Mr 3rd Place 
38:00 Mario Roman:
40:24 Lorenzo Gondola
44:15 Main race results
49:24 The brutal reality of a consecutive race schedule 
52:48 Championship standings
56:04 Roof of Africa preview
58:42 Junior championship battle
01:02:07 Predictions going into Roof of Africa

Mani falls off, picks the bike up, doesn't say a word and rides away. Meanwhile most of us are screaming at our bikes in a rock garden. How do YOU handle frustration on the trail? Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓
Support the show
Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro
You can also connect with us on socials such as Insta and Youtube
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