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The 2025 Monster Energy Backyard Battle series launched in the lush hills of Wales, United Kingdom, as Vero Sandler and Sam Hodgson welcomed over 35 of the world’s top Freeride and Slopestyle Mountain Bike riders to their backyard masterpiece. The kick-off event set the tone for what promises to be the most outrageous Backyard Battle season yet.
Rather than a traditional contest, these events bring an atmosphere that feels like the ultimate lock in session, where global riding talent came together for five days of pure creativity, flow, and good times. Young shredders from the USA, Talus Turk, Finley Kirschenmann and Aiden Parish were an absolute treat to watch during the week. While Euro legends, Alessio “Cornflakes” Tonoli and Lukas Schafer unlocked every inch of the course with some seriously wild gaps and transfers.
Nicknamed the “Gnomes Edition”, the irony wasn’t lost on anyone as there’s absolutely nothing small about the course. Two main lines weave and connect through a maze of flowy tech, sculpted berms, and massive wooden lips, with every section designed to invite creativity, which showed from the variety of riding seen.
A brand-new addition to this year’s event – on the final day Vero and Sam hosted a shuttle day at Revolution Bike Park where the local scene came together to do non-stop laps on the amazing lines on offer, which saw some mega trains and big sends.
As the smoke settled after five days of all-time sessions, the following standout names emerged in the rider awards hand-picked by Vero and Sam:
Hype Train: Billy Spurway, Janelle Soukoup, Natasha Bradley
MVP Gnome: Lukas Schaefer
Hype Gnome: Lucy Van Eesteren
Big Ledge award: Kaos Seagrave
“This whole week was incredibly special for us, we’ve been staring at these jumps all winter whilst digging, and there’s nothing more hype than watching your best mates shred the yard we’ve worked super hard to create” – Vero Sandler
Next up: the series heads to Austria where Daniel and Elias Ruso team up with visionary builder/rider Clemens Kaudela to host Stop 2. Which also includes a leg in Innsbruck for some huge public sessions at Mutters Bike Park.
The Backyard Battle series is made possible by Monster Energy with support from Dewalt Tools.
Photos by Ryan Franklin and Tom Bowell.
