Words Joe Millington
Images Mikhail Huggins

29th April 2025 – It’s a desperately early 5.00 am flight at Auckland International Airport. I’m checking in my two enduro bikes on a Qantas flight to Sydney, then onto Colombo via Sri Lankan Air to compete in the Sri Lankan Open Enduro. For the first three months of the six-month trip, I’m travelling with my father. I’m a 19-year-old privateer racing first-year elite on the EDR World Cup circuit in Europe.

My father has invited himself along, and Mum has stayed at home to keep things running.

I’ve had a good NZ summer, competing in most of the enduro races nationally, the Downhill Nationals and Crankworx Rotorua. My best results were second in the Enduro Nationals at Cable Bay, Nelson, and third in the DH Nationals (racing an enduro bike) in Rotorua. It’s the first time in a while that I’ve been injury-free, and I’m feeling pretty fit.

I’ve been invited to the Sri Lankan Open by Shakti from MTB Sri Lanka. I’m not sure what to expect, but the trip sounds like quite the adventure. We touch down in Colombo late at night. Unfortunately, the bikes have not arrived, but Sri Lankan Airlines are extremely helpful, and the bikes arrive on the next flight the following morning.

All the competitors are staying in a mountain lodge resort in Padukka, and the race is set amongst the rubber plantation on the AYR Estate, the only MTB park in Sri Lanka. It’s excellent to meet riders from many Asian countries, including Nepal, India, Malaysia, Japan, and Indonesia, along with a large and very enthusiastic team from Oman. The level of excitement is infectious; the local riders are thrilled to have a rider from NZ who races on the EDR circuit competing in their home event.

It would be an understatement to say that it’s hot. At the top of each run with your helmet on, it’s hot, but when you remove your goggles at the bottom of each run, the hot air hits you like a hair dryer. You actually get warmer when you stop. The air-conditioned shuttle utes are such a relief.

The trails are in good condition, with each stage having a couple of challenging features. The trail builders have worked very hard; with ground foliage growing up to 12 cm a day, it’s a constant battle to keep the jungle back. After two days of exhausting, hot racing, I come away with a win. RG Ripper from Nepal is second. He had raced in the EDR the year before. We had a good battle and a lot of fun at the after-race party.

At the end of the race, all the locals come back to the race village, and the children of all ages ride the competitors’ bikes around the park having a great time. I couldn’t imagine this happening in NZ or Europe at the end of a race, and it will be one of the lasting memories of the event for me. Now onto Finale Ligure, Italy, for the first EDR of 2025.

The EDR World Cup is a seven-race Enduro series raced all through Europe and is the pinnacle of the sport, attracting riders from all over the world. Fully funded factory teams through to privateer riders like me operating out of the back of a van. At 19 years old, I’m the youngest rider in the elite field. It’s definitely a journey into the unknown and I’m up against legends of the sport. Names like Richie Rude, Jack Moir, Jesse Melamed, to name a few, as well as top NZ riders like Charlie Murray, Matt Walker and Eddie Masters. I really have no idea how I’ll go. I’m saying top 30 out loud but secretly thinking that top 20 is possible. My race plate is 95, and I want to improve on that.

Finale Ligure is a great place to ride, but a tough place to race. I ride as well as I can and push all the way, finishing 29th and happy with how I’ve gone. I now realise what I’m up against.

I’m up at 4.30 am the morning after the race to catch a 6.30 am Wizz Air flight out of Nice to Krakow, Poland, for the next race in Bielsko Biała the following weekend. What a contrast: the weather is freezing with snow falling on the practice day and a max temperature of 3 °C.

On the race day, the weather improves slightly to about 7 °C, but the surface is sticky mud, and the racing feels really slow. The big, powerful guys are in their element, and after a long, exhausting day, I finish 32nd with the race plate of 45. I’m on the improve and have broken into the top 30 overall. The local favourite, Slawomir Lukasik, has won his first World Cup, which sends the local fans into raptures. One of the highlights of this event is the crowds. Unlike Downhill, Enduro has no crowd fencing; you just have to stay behind the race tape. In some places, the crowds are leaning across the track as you approach through the rock garden at 40 kph, just moving back as you arrive, making the track very hard to see at times. It’s pretty out of control.

We have two weeks before the next race in Loudenvielle, in the French Pyrenees and spend eight days in Bielsko before catching a flight to Barcelona to pick up a campervan for the seven-hour drive to Loudenvielle.

I’m looking forward to the Loudenvielle race. It’s the first high mountain race, which means it’s very steep, and the stages are long. The rider who brakes the least and stays upright generally goes well. Last year, I finished second here in the junior race.

The day dawns sunny and dry, perfect for me. My race seeding is 31st and after the first three stages, I’m placed 17th. On the fourth stage, I really let it rip and feel like I’ve gone well. I check the live timing and – wow – I’ve finished fourth with one stage to go. The last stage goes even better with a third place after holding first for a while. This moves me to 11th overall. I’m over the moon, 11th in the world, not bad.

The next morning, after some celebration, we pack the van and head to Leogang, Austria via two days of riding in Finale. Leogang is in the Austrian Alps, a beautiful place with massive mountains with snow on the peaks. Another race with long, steep stages, and I’m feeling pretty good.

After some horrendous wet weather on the day before the race, the race day is a slight improvement, but still incredibly wet, muddy and slippery. I’m seeded 17th for this race. The top 30 always start later, rolling out after the elite women, and now I’m riding with all the big dogs.

I’m with Matt Walker, a New Zealand legend who won a World Cup two years earlier in Val di Fassa. Matt is a friendly guy and a very experienced racer, it’s a pleasure to spend the day riding with him. Looking around at the start of each stage, I feel like I’m in impressive company at just 19 years. The race itself is similar to Loudenvielle. I ride fast and clean except on the last stage, where I have an off, which drops me down on that stage. After six long stages, I finish in 13th place which is beyond my expectations. It’s a good night.

We now have almost three weeks off before the next race in Val di Fassa in the heart of the Dolomites, Italy, which I think is the most spectacular place on the circuit.

Before this, though, my friends Lachie, Cooper, Marcus and I have some summer sun and beaches to attend to in Split, Croatia. After a week relaxing in Split, we spend five days riding in Morzine, France before making our way through to Val di Fassa, ready for round five of the EDR World Series.

I’m ranked 11th for this race, my highest ranking yet. This is a four-day event, with two days of practice and two days of racing. It’s going to be a big four days.

After completing the first two days of practice, race day dawns sunny and hot. We have three stages on Saturday and four on Sunday. After the first two stages, I’m 18th overall, but the stages so far have been short, so the time difference between the top 30 is just seconds.

The third stage lasts over eight minutes, starting flat, but the last half changes to steep and technical. I start okay and feel I’m carrying really good speed. Carrying speed with the least amount of effort is the key to long stages. As the trail gets steeper, it suits me more and after 7:55 minutes, I finish fourth. This stage has broken the field up, and I move into eighth place by the end of the first day.