As you read this, the centre of Newcastle will already be reverberating to the whirr of airborne bicycles, the chirrup of rubber on concrete and, in all probability, the distinctive thwock of helmet on wood. 25 of the world’s top freeriders are in Newcastle for the first round of the Qashqai Urban Challenge, a European urban freeride tour.

The specially-constructed course in the Centre For Life Plaza combines urban style with wooden North Shore elements. There’s a ten metre wooden step-down start ramp into a maze of ladder bridges, drops, wallrides and big jumps, weaving around the existing urban architecture.

During construction, Sombrio’s Ben Boyko commented, “This is definitely Northshore style. It’s all wood roller-coasters, possibly going to be a fair sized drop with a wood landing in the start. I like it.”

The rider line up consists of 15 riders who’ll be attending all five round of the Qashqai Challenge, plus another 10 “specialist” riders – each round focuses on a different riding style. The confirmed rider list is:

• Aaron Chase (USA)
• Amir Kabbani (GER)
• Andreu Lacondeguy (ESP)
• Ben Boyko (CAN)
• Cameron McCaul (USA)
• Darren Berrecloth (CAN)
• Darren Pokoj (AUS)
• Grant Fielder (UK)
• Greg Watts (USA)
• Jamie Goldman (USA)
• Kyle Strait (USA)
• Lance McDermott (UK)
• Paul Basagoitia (USA)
• Ryder Kasprick (CAN)
• Trond Hansen (NOR)
• Brandon Semenuk (CAN)
• Chris Smith (UK)
• Christopher Hatton (F)
• Gee Atherton (UK)
• Lluis Lacondeguy (ESP)
• Phil Sundbaum (USA)
• Dan Atherton (UK)
• Robbie Bourdon (CAN)
• Sam Pilgrim (UK)
• Thomas Vanderham (CAN)

The Newcastle action will be running all weekend. Visit www.nissan-qashqaichallenge.com for more details. And come back to Bikemagic next week when we’ll have exclusive shots of what should be a storming event.