The 2026 Red Bull Erzbergrodeo will celebrate its 30th anniversary in Eisenerz, Austria, from June 4-7, with more than 1,100 riders, Hard Enduro stars, world champions, electric motorcycles and Manuel Lettenbichler as the big favourite to conquer extreme enduro’s toughest race once again.

Thirty years after becoming one of the wildest races on the planet, the Erzbergrodeo returns to the “Iron Mountain” for a very special edition. From June 4-7, the Erzberg in Styria will host the 30th anniversary of an event recognised as a World Xtreme Enduro Supreme in the new Hard Enduro World Ranking. It will bring together riders from 41 countries and every continent for one of off-road motorcycling’s biggest challenges.

The 2026 edition arrives with all the ingredients for a major celebration: more than 1,100 entries, a start list packed with champions, factory riders and amateurs, an increasingly strong new generation and, for the first time, electric motorcycles competing across all categories. But above all, the focus will be on the sporting battle. And there, everyone is looking at the same name: Manuel Lettenbichler.

Lettenbichler, the rider to beat

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider arrives in Eisenerz as the clear favourite. The German has won the last four editions, from 2022 to 2025, and will be chasing a fifth victory that would put him level with two legends of the event: Taddy Blazusiak and Graham Jarvis.

At 28 years old, “Letti” is in one of the best moments of his career, combining technique, fitness and mental strength like few others in current Hard Enduro. But winning at Erzberg is never just about being the favourite. The toughest race on the calendar does not forgive mistakes, and the list of riders ready to make life difficult for him is long.

His KTM teammate Trystan Hart, on the podium in 2022, 2023 and 2024, will again be one of the big names to watch, as will Billy Bolt, a six-time finisher and podium rider in 2023 and 2025. Teodor Kabakchiev, third in 2025, Jonny Walker, three-time winner, Mario Roman, on the podium in 2022 and 2024, and Cody Webb, the most successful American rider at Erzberg with two podiums, also arrive with serious chances.

Jarvis, Gomez and a top-tier list of contenders

The list of contenders does not end there. Alfredo Gomez, a two-time Red Bull Erzbergrodeo winner, will face the mountain again with Beta, while Francesc Moret Clota will line up with Rieju after finishing the race in 2025.

And, as you would expect for an anniversary edition, Graham Jarvis will also be there. The Brit, five-time winner in Eisenerz, will continue to add to his legend at 52 years old, this time with a new challenge: racing for the first time on an electric motorcycle developed with his involvement, the JARV-E.

The local representation will also carry plenty of weight, with Dieter Rudolf, Michael Walkner and Ossi Reisinger among the names to follow. Reisinger, a five-time Iron Road Prolog winner and seven-time REMUS Rocket Ride winner, will be one of the main Austrian references in an event where national pride always plays a special role.

The new generation is pushing

The 2026 Erzbergrodeo will also be a good measure of the rising young talent in extreme enduro. Britain’s Mitch Brightmore, from the X-Grip Racing Team, leads a list that includes Matthew Green, Ash Brightmore, Ryder Leblond, James Moore, Lenny Geretzky, Hugo Crozet and Austrian riders Valentino Hutter and Luca Kropitsch, both 18 years old and already capable of starting from the front row last year.

The numbers sum up the changing face of the discipline well: 63% of the participants are aged between 16 and 29.

Multidiscipline champions at Erzberg

Beyond the core Hard Enduro field, the entry list once again opens the door to riders from other disciplines. Andrea Verona, eight-time EnduroGP world champion and Iron Road Prolog winner in 2023, will be one of the major names coming from classic enduro. And it looks like he will not be alone: after being seen training this week on the KTM 450 EXC-F, reigning EnduroGP World Champion Josep Garcia is also expected to be there, a dominant force in the Iron Road Prologue in recent editions and one of the fastest riders in the world on this kind of terrain.

Daniel “Chucky” Sanders, winner of the 2025 Dakar Rally and fresh from Argentina after contesting the Desafio Ruta 40, will also return to his Red Bull KTM 450 Rally for the Iron Road Prologue. From the United States, pit bike king Carson Brown returns after discovering the race in 2023, while Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen, triple Olympic champion, will take on the Iron Road Prologue and the main race on a KTM 300 EXC.

REMUS Rocket Ride, Iron Road Prologue and Trial Xtreme Challenge

The sporting programme begins on Thursday with the REMUS Rocket Ride, the traditional uphill race that opens the festival. With 300 riders entered and the grid full, the event will once again provide one of the first big shows of the weekend. After the qualifying heats, the fastest 48 riders will go through to Thursday afternoon’s Superfinal.

Friday and Saturday will be all about the Iron Road Prologue, with more than 1,100 riders facing a course of almost 15 kilometres on the gravel roads of the Erzberg. Each rider will have two attempts, with the best time counting. Only the fastest 500 will earn a ticket to Sunday’s main race.

Another highlight will be the Trial Xtreme Challenge, held in the Milwaukee Action Arena. More than 100 riders will compete on identical GASGAS trial bikes for a huge prize: a wildcard to start from the front row of the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo.

Electric bikes enter the game

One of the biggest new features for 2026 will be the arrival of electric motorcycles in all categories. There will be 43 riders on zero-emission machines, with Stark Future as the main player: more than 90% of the electric entries will be riding a Stark VARG.

Eddie Karlsson, Toby Martin, Cooper Abbott and two-time motocross world champion Sebastien Tortelli will represent the brand in direct comparison against combustion motorcycles, one of the major sporting unknowns of this edition.

The twin-cylinders have their own battle too

There will also be plenty of spectacle in the Twin-Cylinder category of the Iron Road Prologue, where another fight for victory is expected between KTM, Yamaha, CFMOTO and KOVE.

Yamaha will line up Pol Tarres and Kevin Gallas on their Tenere 700 Big Enduro machines. Both are also planning to take on Sunday’s main race, as well as liven up the REMUS Rocket Ride, where their big-capacity bikes always guarantee a show.

An anniversary edition with record numbers

In total, the main riders present at the 2026 Erzbergrodeo add up to 48 world titles and 19 victories in the Austrian event. It is a figure that explains the scale of an edition set to go down in history and reinforces the unique character of a race where the world elite, amateur heroes and a new generation all come together to write their own page.

The event’s festive and commercial side will also match the anniversary. On Friday, the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo Kessel Parade powered by OBI will take place, a huge convoy with riders, teams and visitors that will end by forming a giant “30” in the start area. The race can be followed live on ServusTV, ServusTV ON and Red Bull TV, while Radio 88.6 will provide music, interviews and atmosphere from the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo Arena. The NORDIC SPIRIT tent will once again be the paddock meeting point, with briefings, award ceremonies, daily videos and the now legendary rider parties.

Erzberg is ready. Thirty years later, the most brutal race on the calendar once again brings together the best extreme enduro specialists, big names from other disciplines and hundreds of amateurs ready to take on the Iron Mountain.

Credit photos: Andrea Belluschi | Future7Media