Red Bull Hardline UK is always an exciting event, but this year, some additional story lines made it extra special. Women’s freeride has been rapidly progressing in the past few years, including Robin Goomes landing in the record books as the first-ever female winner of Red Bull Rampage.
Earlier this year, Gracey Hemstreet made headlines by winning the first-ever women’s title at Red Bull Hardline Tasmania. In a similar fashion to Gracey, Louise Ferguson was the only woman to drop in on a final run for Red Bull Hardline UK. In doing so, Louise Ferguson became the first woman to ever complete a final run for Hardline UK (and took the win as the only female), considered to be one of the hardest downhill tracks in the world.
Overall Winner: Asa Vermette’s Winning Run
On the men’s side, it was an exciting race with a fast time posted early by Ronan Dunne. Slippery conditions up top made it seem unlikely that anyone would be able to beat Ronan’s time, but the man himself said that there was still time to be found up there. Ronan’s time held until the last few riders, when the fastest qualifiers started putting down faster and faster runs.
In the end, it was the 18-year-old American, Asa Vermette, who put down an unbelievable run to walk away with the overall win. Asa’s run was also historic as he became the youngest-ever winner of Hardline UK at just 18 years old. No one really doubted Asa’s skills at this point, but he continues to defy expectations and prove that he is already one of the fastest riders in the world.
