to the world cup series 2026 - finn's FINAL ROUNd

The Europeran Continental Series 2025, Kranjska Gora 

The final round of the European Continental Series was held in Kranjska Gora, an alpine town nestled between Italy and Austria. It was the biggest race of the year and, for me, the most important of my life. I was in the hunt for a top 5 finish in the overall, which would give me a golden ticket entry into the World Cup Series for the 2026 season.

We left on Sunday, the week before the race, early in the morning to avoid morning traffic in Glasgow. Unfortunately, we hit London at rush hour, which wasn’t ideal. We ended up being about two hours late for the ferry. Fortunately, they let us board a later crossing.

We then travelled a further three or four hours into Belgium, where we stayed the night. We still had 500 odd miles to travel on Monday, but it was a relatively smooth ride through Germany and Austria. We arrived in Slovenia late on Monday night and found a car park to sleep in.

However, we were moved on by the police in the morning because you’re not allowed to sleep overnight in a campervan. Thankfully, we got to know the bike park manager, who let us sleep in the private car park.

The chairlift was open the days leading up to the race, so I got some laps in to familiarise myself with the track before the race started. Afternoon practice on Friday was quite eventful.

The last feature on the track was a short, wooden box jump. I went way too deep and folded my ankles, which was quite painful. I wasn’t sure if I would continue with practice, but ended up doing five more runs until I crashed and tweaked my ankle again. I then rolled down the fire road.

I decided not to ride on Saturday and give my ankles some time to heal. However, I had to go up and break the beam to qualify for tomorrow’s final.

Sunday race day, the track was quite different from the last time I had ridden it, and the morning dew had made it very slippery. After practice, I was a bit unsure about some things, but I felt pretty good going into the finals. 

My finals run was incredibly smooth and strong on the pedals, with no really sketchy moments. I went into the lead, which I expected as I was the second rider to finish. I sat on the hot seat until the second-to-last rider who came down, who beat my time. However, by that point, I knew I had made the top five, so I was stoked.

But then to come second in the race was insane, and to be on the podium with my mates was a cool feeling.

So, second in the race, fourth in the Continental overall, and fifth in the IXS EDC overall, with missing a round – a really cool way to end the season. 

As the offseason approaches, we’ll be training and working out in the gym to prepare for next season. We’ve got a lot of planning to do, as the races are all over the world. The season kicks off in May with the first round in South Korea, which is pretty cool. Then, there are six rounds in Europe, a Canadian round, and an American round. And the highlight of the season is the World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy!

If you’re interested in watching, it will be on TNT Sports. 🤙