Les Gets Serious! FINN's MTB Update✌️

43 minutes ago

5 min read

@theplyguys

Sept 2026

16th September

After the last race of the block in Andorra, we drove back home to Scotland for the three-week break

before the second block of racing kicked off in Les Gets, France. We went out to Les Gets two

weeks prior to the World Cup to get loads of riding and training in before the race; this was so

good because it was the first opportunity to ride properly since I broke my wrist. Two weeks of

riding some of the best tracks in Europe, I was feeling super confident coming into the race!

However, if you need to fix a drought, organise a race in Les Gets, sit back, and enjoy. For the last

three years, there have been weeks of heatwaves and dryness up until the race weekend, and it seems

to rain every time. This didn’t bother me at all though, being from Scotland. Track walk was in the

dry, so the track was looking super dry but really fun. The first few practise runs were in the damp

after a little bit of rain, but the conditions were perfect for a bike race until the heavy rain came on

Thursday evening and into Friday morning. This track rides really good in the wet, but when it

stops raining, the ground dries up really quickly, causing it to be like peanut butter, clogging up the

wheels until the point where they wouldn’t turn.

My qualifying run was a wired one; the conditions were really tricky to judge as it had stopped

raining, and the track changes so much in the short period between our final practice run and our

qualifying run. The run itself was not very clean with a good few mistakes, but I ended up in P24,

which I was both happy and gutted with as only the top 20 riders advance into the final race. I

was pretty stoked because I knew my run was far from decent, so I wouldn’t expect to qualify with

a run like that, but to be that close was nice to see!

So unfortunately, I had to watch the final, but it was probably the best race ever in the history of

the sport. The French fans are on another level. Then there might have been a bit of partying, haha!

Just before the race in Les Gets, the British Cycling World Championships team was announced. I

was selected to be the first reserve. Which I wasn’t sure how to feel about, but during the race,

one of the selected riders got injured, so that opened up a spot for me to compete. A weird feeling

as you hate to see one of your friends lose out, but I was also pretty happy because it gave me the

opportunity. So after the race in Les Gets, we hot-tailed it over to Val di Sole in Italy for the 2026

UCI DH World Championships.

The format for the World Championships is slightly different from a regular World Cup as you get an

extra day of practice, so we did trackwalker on the Tuesday instead of the usual Wednesday. The

track was super cool, something that I had never seen before or anything similar, a super gnarly

and technical track which is what I usually love to ride. However, on the first day of practice, I was

struggling quite a lot with it, figuring out where to go and finding the limits of the track. But after two

days of practice, I felt pretty good on the track and felt ready for qualifying.

The qualifying format is different as the top 60 riders qualify instead of 20 like a World Cup. So I

was thinking it should be super chill, I would have a nice smooth 80% run and should be well in. But

forgetting it was the biggest race of the year with the biggest field with the fastest racers from all

over the world. So I did a super chill run and slotted into P55, which was close, but I was still in for

the finals. I knew I had more in the tank for finals the next day.

Finals day came around and I had poured down during the night, making the track super greasy

and slippery but so much fun. Two practice runs in the morning and I felt ready for finals. But I just

couldn’t put it together when it counted and got smoked. I ended up P42, which I’m not very

happy with, but that’s how racing is sometimes.

But looking back on the weekend, it was a super cool experience and I learned a lot! So let’s see

what we can do at the final two races across the pond in Canada and America! Here we go!

Finn Holling

THE PLY GUYS PARTY!

CAFFIENE & MACHINE

THE BASECAMP, 2026, THE HILL

The team had an absolute blast at The Ply Guys Party hosted by Caffeine & Machine a few weeks ago and want to thank everyone that attended and especially the incredible team at C&M for hosting and helping to organise it! We already can’t wait for the next one!

Here’s a wee re-cap.

The convoy of Ply Guys vans and 4x4 campers headed down south on the Friday, with a few stops on the way to re-energise on the six to eight-hour journey, arriving on the site to relax for the night with a hearty meal at the C&M restaurant.

The next day Birdie and Tilly made sure we all had an early rise to join them for another mouth-watering breakfast and to make sure the vehicles were all aligned in there best locations with all the signage displayed to welcome the visitors.

The rain gods decided to follow us to make an appearance from Scotland to bring that much-needed refreshing water down south after months of drought. As the legend himself said, “There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little” - Billy Connolly

Not long after yellow ball in the sky started to shine with the Ply Guys Gazebo erected, filled with all the goodies from YETI, to Nooks and other camper essentials as the sound of sweet music began to radiate by our very own Ply Guys DJ Mistro (The Wook) aka Brett with some soothing morning tunes!

As ‘The Hill’ filled from customers, to like-minded camper thrill-seekers and curious motorheads, DJ Apolaski dropped his set before the raffle prizes was announced.

The Party had officially begun with the vibes on point as humans and furry friends would venture throughout the site. From visiting The Ply Guys shop, to chilling at the tents with Mario Kart, Air Hockey and live music from Ryan Corbett, to browsing the campers on display. The team full of beans was more than happy to chat away and showcase the detail that goes into each build.

As day turned into night, the lights on ‘The Hill’ changed the party from The BaseCamp to The BassCamp as one drink turned to two, two turned to three, and then……….. probably some more. The evening brought ‘The Wook’ who belted out some absolute bangers till early morning.

As the party came to an end, some early risers woke up for some yoga with Jade before saying our goodbyes back north.

An epic weekend and one to remember till next time! 🤙

The Cuillin BED & STORAGE FOR THE LAND ROVER!

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