Last weekend, Colombian pro downhiller Sebastián Holguín of MS Racing won Red Bull’s Valparaíso Cerro Abajo urban DH race on his aluminum belt-drive, gearbox Zerode G3 Downhill bike. As we’ve heard Gates & Pinion rightfully prosthelytize for several years, the improved suspension performance benefits and kinematic design freedom of a gearbox gravity bike just makes a lot of sense. But we’ve yet to see one pop up to the top step of an elite DH podium just yet.
Does Holguín’s Red Bull Valparaíso win suggest that 2026 might just be the year that will change?
Zerode G3 Downhill gearbox DH bike
We already covered MS Racing’s Zerode G3 last season, when it became the 4th belt-drive, gearbox DH Bike vieing for the €100K Gates Belted Purse. And there’s nothing inherently new here, so no need to explain again about the benefits of reduced unsprung mass.
But it is worth noting that this year’s Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo had a pretty stacked list of racers, including urban downhill legends, multiple past winners, local heroes, and some proper World Cup downhillers. And the track had plenty of technical challenges for both rider and bike, including the many requisite gaps and massive step-down jumps, a proper rocky dirt section, plus 280 sharp-edged stone & concrete steps.
Yet Holguín set a course record time on his Zerode G3, with a commanding time gap over the 2nd & 3rd place finishers.
Will the Gates €100K Belted Purse be won in 2026?
Gates has been enticing pro downhillers with an extra 100,000€ prize to “the first elite racer to win a UCI Downhill event on a belt-driven bike” since 2024. This will be the third season offering the prize, and we think 2026 will be the year they have to pay up.
What do you think?
Will a belt-drive, gearbox downhill bike make it to the podium of a World Cup DH race this season? Could the 21-year-old Colombian be the one to do it? Our 2026 predictions guessed that an Atherton A.200.G would be the bike to do it, but maybe MS Racing will prove us wrong?
