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 ↓↓↓

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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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