Round one of the 2026 Hard Enduro World Championship recently took place at Alestrem in France. To get a better idea of how this race went and a more in-depth understanding of what happened behind the scenes, we sat down with Mike Skinner who was on the ground and deep in the action. 

We touch on a variety of topics such as Stark in hard enduro, media coverage of the race, the unpredictable weather and how that created confusion for the final lap. We also discuss how competitive the top 20 are and how exciting that is for the future of the sport and the rest of the season. 

We hope you enjoy this episode! 

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:02 HEWC Round 1 at 24MX Alestrem
01:35 Race overview: Friday and Saturday
03:18 Season opener atmosphere
05:00 The rainstorm
07:04 Stark Varg & the Jarv-E
07:53 Toby Martyn
10:06 Graham Jarvis
13:52 Standout riders
15:28 Billy & Mani's big gap
16:35 Race result confusion
19:10 Media 
23:32 Live Broadcast
29:33 Final results recap
32:13 Looking ahead to HEWC Round 2: Extreme XL Lagares

Enjoyed this one? Subscribe so you don't miss our Round 2 breakdown from Extreme XL Lagares. If you watched the live overage, drop your thoughts on how you think it could be improved in the comments ↓↓↓

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In this episode we chat to an iconic duo of Matt's. Matt Green is a returning guest to the podcast and Matt Adams has been his main support while racing in the United States. We got to sit down and chat to both of them and reflect on their time together. This was truly an intercontinental interview across three time zones.

In 2026 Matt Green did something no other rider in the world championship has done... he took on part of the US Hard Enduro Series. Heading to the US with minimal plans in place, he took a chance and it certainly paid off! He had some great results and loads of stories to share. We dive into his experience, the differences between the US and Europe and even touch on how to take on some of the challenging races the US has to offer. 

Matt Adams was the go-to man for this time in the US and the team owner of the Champion Brick racing team. A man with a passion for dirt bikes and a story that would inspire anyone to get out there and enjoy life to the fullest. He shares what it was like to host a world championship rider, what it's like running his team and the big plans he has in place for 2026. 

This was a great episode and we hope you enjoy it! 

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:25 Meet Matt Adams 
06:00 How Matt Green & Matt Adams Connected
08:07 Inside Champion Brick Racing
10:25 What Inspired Matt Adams to Build the Team 
16:10 Matt Adams first impressions of Matt Green
18:37 Matt Green's Race Results Across the First 3 US Rounds
19:00 Was the US Good Enough to Stay? 
21:00 US Hard Enduro vs. European Hard Enduro
27:57 How Matt Green's US Trip Could Open Doors for Others
36:18 Funny Stories from Life on the Road Together
37:00 Hilton, South Africa: Matt Green's Secret Weapon for Hawaii
38:02 Bike & Tyre Setup for Hawaii's Terrain
43:00 Grinding Stone
50:35 US Hard Enduro's Growth
52:00 Matt Adams' 2026 Season Plans for Champion Brick Racing
54:05 Matt Green's HEWC Season Preview: Ready for Round 1 
57:20 Closing Thoughts

Matt has showed what's possible heading over to the US. Do you think we'll see more riders take a similar path in the future? Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓

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Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

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The start of the 2026 championship is a week away and we had the opportunity to chat with Sherco rider, Teodor Kabakchiev. The last time he was on the podcast was just before the Roof of Africa 2024 and honestly, a lot has happened since then.

We dive into a variety of topics start with what training looks like for Teo in preparation for the new season. He shares how he is an all round rider and enjoys a variety of disciplines but is very structured with his training. It was particularly interesting discussing how he has incorporated trials into his program and how even a pro rider like Teo finds it challenging compared to a traditional off-road bike.

This will be Teo's third year with Sherco factory racing. Following his team mate Mario Roman leaving to go independent, we of course had the question on our minds... who will be joining him in the hard enduro championship. We briefly touch on who this is, and why he seems to be a good fit for the team.   

Teo shared some great stories on this episode, with one in particular standing out. He shares his thoughts about Romaniacs and how after a grueling 6 hour day in the saddle, he felt more exhausted compared to his competitors. This lead him on a journey to really take his technical training more seriously and it's clear that has paid off.

Suspension is a hot topic in hard enduro and can be very challenging to get right. The communication between the rider and technician needs to be spot on in order for the settings to really hit the mark. This year Teo is once again working with a specialist who understands what he likes and has the mindset of, if something works, why change it?

Lastly, Teo shares his suggestions for young riders looking to make a career in dirt bikes.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:05 Roof Of Africa
03:14 off-season training
04:55 Bike setup
06:51 Suspension 
08:17 Riding with family 
10:21 Considerations for making hard enduro a career 
11:35 Recovering from Injury
14:43 2026 season
16:34 Alestrem 
20:19 New Sherco team mate 
22:20 Riding a variety of disciplines
23:49 Trials bike riding
29:41 Advice for juniors

Teo dropped some real gems in this one... from trials training to suspension setups to advice for the next generation. What was your biggest takeaway? Drop it in the comments ↓↓↓

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

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In this episode we had the opportunity to chat to Mike Skinner who is a legend in the hard enduro paddock and has been involved in the sport for 12 years. He's seen the sport change and evolve over the years and has truly been on the inside of what can sometimes be seen as a sport with many decisions made behind closed doors. 

We got to speak to Mike about the 2026 season and if he believes that the sport is on the right track. He shares his hopes for the this new chapter and his belief that everyone needs to work together to grow the sport. 

In 2025 Mike took on more of a media role filling a really important hole is hard enduro coverage. He is often able to get to places many aren't and captures some of the best raw footage and rider interviews out there. 

Beyond media, Mike is also a world class track setter and is able to share some common mistakes and suggestions for anyone whether it be track setters or race organizers. 

We end our discussion with some bench racing, talking about when the juniors will eventually take the top spot, why there isn't a des nations for hard enduro and lastly, his suggestions to young riders looking to make a career out of dirt bikes. 

We hope you enjoy this episode.  

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:52 HEWC
08:21 Media Coverage
16:15 Hard enduro track setting
29:51 Hard enduro ranking system
33:53 Bench racing
48:19 Suggestions for young riders

Which country do you think would win if there was a Hard Enduro Des Nations?? Drop it in the comments... and also let us know which 3 riders you would pick from that country↓↓↓

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Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

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We run on passion, bad jokes, and your support. Subscribe or buy us a coffee and keep this thing alive → https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro  

Something has been on our mind recently, will we see Stark Varg enter the Hard Enduro World Championship and line up at the start of Alestrem round 1? The manufacturer has just completed a groundbreaking season in the FIM Super Enduro World Championship by taking the manufacturers championship after only their second year. We've also got wind that they will be entering the EnduroGP in 2026 which is a pretty big move. 

In an interview with Enduro21, Stark Racing Director, Sebastien Tortelli hinted at participating in 4 out of the 5 world championships and that hard enduro might be on that list. This year is the first year that Stark would actually be allowed to enter the Hard Enduro Championship due to changes in regulations. 

To come to a conclusion we had to touch on a couple topics that would determine if this is a realistic journey in 2026. There are things like regulations, bike limitations as well as riders that will all determine their decision. Stark is a brand that only enters something if they believe they have a competitive chance and will be able to perform well so also need to chat about what success would look like for them. 

It's possible we'll see more information from the brand in the coming weeks but one thing is for sure, we'd love to see them in the Hard Enduro World Championship even if its just a testing year.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:01 Will we see Stark in the Championship?
01:42 Super Enduro
04:20 EnduroGP
07:07 Hard Enduro Regulations
10:16 Bike Limitations
13:20 Red Bull Romaniacs Case Study
14:43 Event Organizer Requirements
16:40 Stark Riders
20:57 What does success look like?
23:27 Putting it into perspective

Think Stark should make the move? Drop it in the comments... we want to know where you stand↓↓↓

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

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These episodes don't run on premix alone, your support keeps us moving. Grab us a coffee → https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

We welcome Mario Roman back onto the podcast to chat about the next chapter of his career. As many fans will know, Mario has parted ways with Sherco Factory Racing and created his own independent team MR74. This is a very interesting episode as we get to truly understand the differences between being on a factory team and the opportunities of being able to choose your own partners and sponsors. 

Taking about partners, Mario has teamed up with Plews Tyres for the foreseeable future. A big move from someone who rode on Michlin tyres for 8 years. Of course we had to dive deeper into understanding his opinion on the differences between the two and for his response to not only be about the tyres but the brands themselves was surprising! 

We're all hard enduro fans here so of course we're taking about the 2026 Hard Enduro World Championship as well as Mario's role in the riders association. We couldn't forget the hard Enduro World Ranking either. We touched his collaboration with CF Moto as the brand ambassador and his plans for Red Bull Romaniacs on an ADV. 

A key takeaway from our chat and suggestion for junior riders was Mario's emphasis on how riders should be seeing racing and riding as a business, and taking the time to invest in themselves and their online presence. This is something that Mario has done incredibly well and should definitely be something younger riders are focusing on. 

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:56 New bike, new team
06:03 Business 
08:59 Plews tyres
12:14 CF Moto cooperation
14:13 RBR 2026 on an ADV
16:05 Priorities
17:54 2026 HEWC
19:15 Fave part of the new bike
20:55 WERA
23:00 Sorry Bro junior team
25:34 James Moore winning ROA
26:48 Advice for junior riders
28:32 HEWR

We’d love to hear your thoughts, do you think going independent the future for top riders? Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

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These episodes don't run on premix alone, your support keeps us moving. Grab us a coffee → https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro 

We're excited to welcome James Moore back onto the podcast with another interview almost exactly a year later. How things have changed! Looking back he was looking at racing a full junior championship season with Rigo Racing and now we're taking to the FIM Junior Hard Enduro World Champion and winner of the 2025 Roof Of Africa. 

A race that James states changed his life, in this episode we dive deeper into his experience at the 2025 Roof of Africa as well as a reflection on this incredible past year. Of course there are many exciting things head for this young rider with the most notable change being his new team for the 2026 World Championship season with Beta Motorcycles and joining the AG Racing team. 

We take a look at what races James will be doing this year and end our chat with advice for young rider who are looking to turn dirt bikes into a career. This episode is backed with great moments so we hope you enjoy it as much as we did conducting and editing it! 

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:50 Roof Of Africa

12:22 Beta Motorcycles and AG Racing

15:32 2026 Season

18:28 Bike Setup

19:51 Other Opportunities

22:09 Advice for Roof

23:44 2026 HEWC

24:54 World Enduro Ranking System

26:00 Expectations

29:30 Advice for junior riders

31:10 Outro

What your favourite part of this episode (Our was definitely James sharing the moment his ROA win sunk in). Let us know in the comments↓↓↓

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

You can also connect with us on socials such as Insta and Youtube

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These episodes don't run on premix alone, your support keeps us moving. Grab us a coffee → https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

In this episode we're talking hard enduro silly season! Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in to this weeks episode, we think you'll enjoy it.

Firstly, there have been a handful of announcements recently from riders who have either joined new teams or gone independent. We start off clarifying who's definitely made a move for the 2026 season.

Of course when a rider thanks their old team and parts ways, there's almost always a new team announcement on the horizon! The rider we're all looking at right now is James Moore who claimed the 2025 FIM Junior Hard Enduro Championship and finished his season with a career defining win at Roof Of Africa. We also have another South African rider, Thomas Scales who looks to be moving to international waters.

We end off the episode summarizing which riders will not be changing for the new season and are expected to stay with their current teams and setups.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

As mentioned, here are some links to the various accounts:
Mario Roman
Radford Chugg
Charlie Frost
Luke Walker
Matthew Green
James Moore
Thomas Scales

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
03:01 Who has changed teams
20:00 Scheduled changes
24:11 Our predictions
33:40 same team
37:28 Outro

What's silly season without some predictions? We have certainly entertained some wild thoughts in this episode but we'd love to hear your thoughts on who's going where. Let us know in the comments.

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

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We're onto season 2 of the podcast talking all things hard enduro! If you've been following us for a while, you'll know we took a bit of a break from the pod but honestly... we missed it too much! We found ourselves talking about everything happening in the industry off camera far too often that we had to ask ourselves "Why aren't we recording this?". Good news, we've come to our senses and honestly, it's good to be back! 

In our first episode back we're diving into a brief history on what has been happening in hard enduro over the last 2 years, specifically talking about the 2025 championship season. Once we understand where we've come from, we can then talk about the current hard enduro situation and what's to come in the 2026 season.

Lastly, we end off chatting about the WERA (World Enduro Riders Association) - What is it, who's part of it and how is it affecting the industry? 

We hope you enjoy this episode and if you'd like to keep up with the latest episodes consider subscribing.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

03:27 Hard Enduro Background

14:17 Current Situation (2026 Season)

24:56 WERA (World Enduro Riders Association)

38:58 Outro

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

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Welcome to the ADD GAS channel where we cover all things off-road. Subscribe for new episodes every week.

We had the honor to chat to Rich Larsen, known as “The Tire Guy”. Rich has been coaching offroad skills and clinics for almost 10 years and as a teacher has gained invaluable experience and expertise in the field of offroad riding. In this episode we chat about his 3 pillars to riding and the main mistakes we see riders making when riding and offroad bike. 

A big takeaway from our discussion was how pro riders differentiate themselves from good riders and their ability to implement focus training. While many of the top riders have trails backgrounds it is noteworthy to discuss how this conditions a rider but on the other side it is becoming obvious that junior riders are training specifically for industries like hard enduro. 

We end our discussion with a focus on mental strength and how heading into a race is more about mindset. Rich shares his own experience on a recent accident that shifted his mindset and has set him on a path that he would choose again if he had the chance. 

We’re excited to share this chat with you and we hope you enjoy the episode!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:13 Rich Larsen
02:21 3 Pillars of riding
05:34 Focus training
10:50 Trials skills in hard enduro
15:27 Common offroad mistakes
26:21 The difference between good riders and pro riders
32:55 Factory bikes VS stock bikes
39:24 Junior rider focus
43:40 Mental strength
52: Rich’s big accident

Support the show

Whether you're driving to work, heading back from a weekend ride or working on the bike in the garage make sure to tune in and if you're feeling generous you're welcome to buy us a coffee to support our efforts with the following link - https://buymeacoffee.com/worldhardenduro

You can also connect with us on socials such as Insta and Youtube

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