6 incredible moments in mountain bike history

Aaron Gwin wowed the world back in 2014 when he powered through his World Cup run at Leogang, despite suffering a flat at the top of the course. With the tyre flapping around his frame, Gwin was left riding on nothing but his rim. While for many riders that would be game over, Gwin showed the true grit of a champion and ploughed on regardless. How the wheel didn’t collapse and how Gwin didn’t slide out, we still don’t know.

Val di Sole is considered to be one of the roughest and toughest downhill tracks going, but Sam Hill certainly didn’t let that interfere with his run in the 2008 World Championships. In what has come to be regarded as the one of the greatest downhill runs of all time, Hill rockets down the course at such speed that commentator Rob Warner can hardly contain himself. But just when you think he’s smashed Steve Peat's time, the unbelievable happens...

The curse of Leogang returned for Aaron Gwin in 2015, when he suffered another serious mechanical issue. This time his chain snapped before he’d even hit the first corner. Even on a course with only a few pedaling sections, we were all still left scratching our heads when he charged over the finish line to take first place.

There are more than a few incredible moments we could pick out when it comes to Cam Zink at Red Bull Rampage. While his huge backflip off the Icon Sender in 2013 sent the mountain bike community wild, it was his massive 360 drop off the Sender in 2010 which was arguably harder and came to be recognised by his fellow riders as the ‘best Rampage moment ever’.

2016 couldn’t have gone much better for Rachel Atherton. Not only was it a World Cup clean sweep, but she picked up her fourth World Championship title and celebrated her 15th back-to-back win – something that’s never before been achieved in the sport.

Race season isn’t race season without former World Cup rider Claudio Caluori previewing the pro tracks. However, we don’t think anyone expected him to take on the gnarliest course of them all. In what has to be the scariest course preview ever, Claudio screams his way down the ‘easy’ line of the 2015 Red Bull Rampage course. Watch out for that worrying moment when he looks like he’s heading straight for the Canyon Gap...