Downhill world champion Gee Atherton saddled up to Northern Ireland this weekend for Red Bull Foxhunt, a downhill mountain biking mission where the hunters became the hunted.
The multiple World Cup winner headed to Belfast’s iconic Cave Hill Country Park for the event, alongside 100 riders from all over Ireland and the UK, as well as over three thousand local spectators who showed their support.
The aim of Red Bull Foxhunt is much different to the controversial past-time of the same name. This time, the roles are reversed, and Gee plays the part of the Fox, being set free to start the downhill course just after the main group. His goal is to ride down and overtake as many riders as possible, eliminating them from the race.
But this weekend, as Gee reached the finish line, the skills of the local pack left the Fox in second position. Greg Callaghan, who travelled up from Dublin, managed to beat Gee to the chase to take the number one spot, with Glynn O’Brien from Newry coming up in third.
The course at Cave Hill looked to go down a treat, as entries completely maxed out within a matter of hours. Speaking after the event, Gee said “Red Bull Foxhunt has been such an amazing weekend! They guys pulled out all the stops. Every rider I met had an awesome time and they had huge smiles on their faces. Cave Hill is the perfect location for an event like this with stunning views over this beautiful city of Belfast. Definitely great potential for more!”
Photo & Text: Red Bull Content Pool/Colm O’Reilly/Predrag Vuckovic
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