Natural Selection Tour Debuts Bike Competition in Queenstown, New Zealand

A collection of the world's most avid freeride bikers gather on Mt. Dewar in Queenstown to compete on one of the sport's most technical venues.

Second place finisher, Carson Storch, representing the USA during one of his runs on the Natural Selection Bike Tour 2025 / Bartosz Wolinski/Natural Selection

Tāhuna Queenstown, Aotearoa New Zealand — Following the success of the debut of the surfing event, the Natural Selection Tour has switched its focus to the gripping sport of mountain biking. With the stunning backdrop of Mt. Dewar, the Natural Selection Bike Tour brought the best men and women bikers in the world together to show off their skill and knowledge of the various aspects of the sport.

“After two and a half years of searching the globe for the perfect location we ended up finding mountain bike paradise in New Zealand,” said Todd Barber, Managing Director of NST Bike. “Could not be more proud of the athletes, build crews, and production teams that brought this to life and cannot wait to share this incredible groundbreaking event with the world.  It will be a game changer in the sport of Freeride Mountain Bike.”

The competition combines the elements of freeride, slopetyle and downhill riding into one technical course that tests the rider's versatility on the mountain. Massive drops, shark fins, step-ups and several other challenging mountain features, makes Mt. Dewar the perfect venue to test the limits of the riders, who, in the end, flew down the terrain and came out on top.

Poland's Szymon Godziek and Argentina's Cami Nogueira both earned top spots on the podium. For the men’s division, the riders combine their two best runs for an overall score out of 100, and Godziek nearly achieved a perfect score. The 33-year-old had the audience on the edge of their seats as he weaved his way down the course, landing monstrous backflips and 360s. The total score for Godziek’s bold performance was 92.88, landing him on the top of the podium.

“Winning was my goal coming here. It’s been a hard week. I’ve practiced every day and been giving it 100%,” said Godziek. “I love this event, it’s a mix between slopestyle, freeride and downhill and you have to be a very skilled rider to be able to ride on these features.”

Godziek’s results were followed up by Carson Storch from the US who earned a second place finish with a score of 85.88. The third place spot on the podium was taken by France’s Louis Reboul (80.38)

In the women’s division, Nogueira showed equal talent and skill on the course, flying down the mountain with clean tricks and big air, earning her a first place finish at 86.50 points overall. Nogueira’s skill was nearly matched by USA’s Hannah Bergman, who landed in second by the skin of her teeth at 79.75, just barely ahead of Kirsten Can Horne from Canada, who had a score of 78.50.

Hannah Burgemann, representing the USA at the Natural Selection Bike Tour, dropping into her run that ended in a score of 79.75, earning her the second place spot on the podium. / Bartosz Wolinski/Natural Selection

In other news, Spain’s Adolf Silva was awarded with the Best Trick Award after his massive Superman; USA’s Finley Kirschemann earned the Best Style Award for his admirably executed runs; and USA’s Janell Soukup and Carson Storch both received the Spirit Award, having exhibited high energy and passion throughout the event. Related Adventure Article

Replays of the eventcan also be found on Red Bull TV and YouTube.