Ulster man Colin Ross was King of the Mountain at the weekend after capturing his third win in a row at the Red Bull Foxhunt 2016 in Rostrevor, Co Down in record time. Superb riding conditions and a fast track made for one of the most memorable ‘mass start’ downhill races in Europe as a pack of 400 red-backed riders (‘the hounds’) tore down Slieve Martin in the Mourne Mountains in a bid to outfox two-time Downhill World Champion Gee Atherton (‘the fox’).
Gee overtook 399 other racers to hunt down Colin and was snapping at his heels for much of the race but couldn’t catch the eventual champion as he powered through the course eventually beating Atherton by over 30 seconds.
Hundreds of spectators cheered the hounds on after a bugle signalled a 15 second start for the fox down an adrenaline-powered course combining sections of existing track with additional mountain and multi terrain sections culminating in a sprint to the finishing line in Kilbroney Park.
Red Bull Fox Hunt started in Ireland in 2011 and this year will be held in several countries throughout the world including Scotland and Denmark. Held last year in Rostrevor, Colin Ross secured his second win of a now unprecedented hat-trick