Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship women's event in Rotorua. Video / Crankworx
You don’t need to be a mountain biking expert to enjoy Crankworx Rotorua.
That’s the message from event director Tuhua Mutu, who said “it’s obvious what is being done is impressive” when riders are flying overhead performing backflips and tricks.
The international mountain biking festival returns to Rotorua this weekfor its 12th year, with riders and spectators set to gather at Skyline Rotorua on the slopes of Mt Ngongotahā.
About 10,000 people are expected to pass through the gates during the five-day festival, and Mutu said this year’s event had attracted its largest athlete field yet, with more than 700 competitors.
The event runs starts tomorrow, bringing riders, community races and spectators to the city as part of the international Crankworx World Tour.
The programme includes headline events such as the Specialised Kārearea Downhill, Crankworx Slopestyle in Memory of McGazza, Official Oceania Whip-Off Championships, Air DH, Pump Track Challenge, Dual Slalom and Skyline Double Down.
The festival will also host the Mountain Bike National Downhill Championships, run with Cycling New Zealand, MTBNZ and the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club.
The downhill race was a personal favourite for Mutu.
He said the event had grown from a “fresh-faced” first year into one run by a highly experienced team, with many of the original organisers still returning annually to help deliver the festival.
He said those early years had also helped inspire a new generation of riders, with many who once watched from the sidelines now competing internationally.
Rotorua had become a special stop on the world tour, with visiting organisers and athletes quickly falling for the city’s “character” and culture, Mutu said.
Riders competing in the Specialized Dual Slalom during Crankworx Rotorua. Photo / Clint Trahan
International riders will line up against a Kiwi field including Brook Macdonald, Sam Blenkinsop, Tuhoto-Ariki Pene and Lachie Stevens-McNab in the downhill.
In the women’s field, Jenna Hastings, Shania Rawson and Eliana Hulsebosch will take on international competitors, including Sian A’Hern and Louise Ferguson.
Hastings won gold in the AirDH at Crankworx Rotorua 2025, recording the fastest women’s time of 2:06.654.
The Crankworx Slopestyle will feature riders including Erik Fedko, Tim Bringer and David Godziek, while Robin Goomes returns to the women’s event.
Mutu said women’s participation had grown, noting there was no women’s slopestyle competition when the event began in 2015.
He said the festival combined elite competition with a “family-friendly” environment, with activities across the hillside including kids’ events, spectator areas, food and the chance for visitors to relax, watch the racing or enjoy a bit of “retail therapy” in the expo village.
Spectators can watch the action from Skyline Rotorua, with key events also streamed on TVNZ+, the Crankworx YouTube channel and Pinkbike.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.
