Masters of Dirt
27 Jul 2026
The old streets of Groningen have never seen anything like it. This weekend, Red Bull District Ride — the world's most iconic urban slopestyle contest — made its long-awaited comeback, landing in a brand-new home after its last edition in Nuremberg, Germany back in 2022.
And here's the twist: the Netherlands is one of the flattest countries in Europe, yet the course was stacked with vertical — headlined by a 14-metre rooftop drop and some of the highest jumps the contest has ever thrown down. When the dust settled on Saturday, the Masters of Dirt family had every reason to celebrate.
District Ride is unlike any other contest. There's no fixed line, no prescribed approach — riders read a whole district of stair sets, drops, wallrides and booters and decide for themselves how to attack it.
This year the course was carved into three districts: the Big Air District, anchored by that jaw-dropping rooftop drop; the technical, flow-heavy Park District; and the Dual District, where every rider chooses their own line. Judges scored on difficulty, style, creativity and overall impression. In other words: pure, unleashed self-expression on two wheels.
At the front of the men's field stood a familiar name to the M.O.D Family. Tim Bringer — after only just scraping into the final — dropped the run of the day to claim victory, holding off Poland's Dawid Godziek and Switzerland's Lucas Huppert. A tour rider from the Masters of Dirt roster, standing on the top step of the world's wildest urban contest. That's a statement.
History was made on the women's side too. District Ride 2026 featured the first-ever full women's competition, and Sweden's Alma Wiggberg seized the moment — stomping a huge backflip barspin off the iconic rooftop drop to post the day's highest Big Air score and become District Ride's first female champion.
For Masters of Dirt, the real headline was our arrival on the course itself. District Ride 2026 hosted the first-ever Masters of Dirt "Best Trick" segment — and the reward was massive. Two riders earned a wildcard show-entry straight onto the 2027 M.O.D Freestyle 100 Tour: Nicholi Rogatkin, a member of the M.O.D family for years, and women's champion Alma Wiggberg. From a rooftop in Groningen to the biggest freestyle stages in Europe — that's the kind of ladder Masters of Dirt was built to provide.
It all connects to the bigger picture. Since 2003, Masters of Dirt has grown from a single show into a freestyle institution — 300+ events, millions of fans, and a family of riders who push the limits every time they roll in. Being part of District Ride's long-awaited comeback, and sending two of its stars onto our own tour, is exactly where M.O.D belongs: at the centre of the action.
M.O.D founder Georg Fechter summed up the weekend:
"The moment I walked into Grote Markt, it hit me. I’d seen the renderings — but standing there, it was like stepping straight into the 3D model, except all of it was real. Massive respect to Red Bull Netherlands and the entire crew for pulling off the biggest urban slopestyle event on the planet — in the flattest country in Europe. And to the riders: thank you for going that hard for the crowd. Unreal."
One last note from the weekend: the official Red Bull District Ride merch, produced by Masters of Merch, sold out before the competition had even started on Saturday — the drop was gone before the first run.
The 2027 Freestyle 100 Tour kicks off in Ljubljana on 20 February — and both Alma Wiggberg and Nicholi Rogatkin are set to appear at stops along the way. Will you be there when they do?
Get your tickets for the 2027 Freestyle 100 Tour → https://www.mastersofdirt.com/events
Groningen went off. Europe's next.