Tell your mates and kiss your mothers: Mons Royale athlete Robin Goomes has just won NST Bike 2026, landing on top of the podium with an epic first-place ride on home turf in Queenstown, New Zealand.
Our Kiwi rider, on top of the world stage. Our bike-whipping, back-flipping, record-breaking, fearless, bad ass, big dog, world title rider. The first woman to ever backflip in competition. First-ever winner of the women's Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Champs competition. First-ever winner of the women's Red Bull Rampage 2024, the Olympics of the mountain bike world. And she didn't just win it once – she also made history at Red Bull Rampage 2025, defending her gold title with a back-to-back win. And now, she's the women's winner of NST Bike 2026.
And she did it all in Merino from yours truly. She's the baddest of them all, and say it with your chest.
What is Natural Selection Tour?
For those new (late) to the party, Natural Selection is the holy grail of the mountain bike circuit. Invitation-only, this elite global event brings together top athletes from around the globe for a chance to compete in some of the planet's most impressive natural playgrounds. And after her two back-to-back wins at Red Bull Rampage, it's no surprise Kiwi rider Robin Goomes was locked in at the start gates.
Much like the NST Ski and Snow events, NST Bike is all about the natural ride. Natural lines, natural terrain, and naturally blending creativity with technical precision. With a combination of freeride, downhill and slopestyle riding, athletes put down some of the biggest lines in the mountain biking world to compete for a spot on the podium.
We're stoked to be Official Next-to-skin Partners of Natural Selection Tour across Bike, Snow and Ski, putting Merino on the shoulders of the world's best riders in natural terrain. It's what we're built for.
How the competition works
The NST Bike competition features 23 riders from all over the globe: 15 men, 8 women. The course up at Mt. Dewar has two different lines, with each ride getting a line score out of 50. Athletes get two rides each, with a combined maximum score out of 100. The judging criteria measure Creativity, Risk, Execution, Difficulty, and Overall flow.
This year's event saw riders tackle a bespoke, custom-built course at Mt. Dewar in the freeride mecca of Tāhuna Queenstown. Two line options, with natural, techy terrain at the top of the course, flowing into big jumps and more opportunity for airtime further down the dirt.
"You get to ride multiple lines and features, so it allows you to be as creative as you want to be," says Robin.
The results: Round One
Day one of NST Bike saw riders throwing down the gauntlet with incredible lines, huge air, and fearless riding. The women's lineup featured huge names in the mountain biking world, including Robin Goomes (NZL), Vinny Armstrong (NZL), and Vaea Verbeeck (CA), to name a few.
Robin Goomes landed the high score of the first round with 43.0 points. A fearless sui off the first drop, whips and cans throughout, and a surprise backy on the last hit despite tagging the set-up jump. On the leaderboard, she was closely followed by Hannah Bergemann with 42.3 points, and Kirsten Van Horne with 41.1. Going into the second round, it's still anyone's game, with an equally important second ride still ahead.
The results: Round two
Coming into the second round, Robin needed another ripper run to hold onto her first-place position at the top of the leaderboard. And boy, did she rip. Technical finesse through the start of the course, a sui off the first big drop despite some wind on the course, a no-footer can can on a step-up jump, and an attempted 270 on a tricky side hit most riders wouldn't dream of. A slight washed-out landing on the 270 meant she'd need a strong finish, and again, Robin delivered, finishing with a backflip one-footed can on the final jump.
"That was absolutely chaotic. I don't know, I can't really feel my hands," Robin says at the end of her run.
Her final line landed her 44.0 points, for a total combined score of 87.0. That's gold, baby. Kirsten Van Horne followed in second with 85.0, and Hannah Bergemann in third place with 83.6.
"I'm really stoked. I've just been trying to have fun all week, and that's what I've been doing," says Robin. "What a privilege, thanks for having me."
Missed the livestream? Watch the broadcast now over on Red Bull TV.
