Yes, it’s that time of year again. For the third year, Race Face are looking for a new freeride star to chuck money and components at, and it’s us, the public, who make the decision…

For the Ultimate Freeride Challenge III, Giant and Manitou have joined Race Face and stumped up a big pile of cash. The winner will get a sponsorship deal including bikes from Giant, boingy bits from Manitou, components from Race Face and an impressive $25,000.

First winner Tyler Klassen is now very well known indeed, while last year’s winner Matt Hunter is coming up fast, busily filming video segments and limbering up for the Red Bull Rampage.

“Increasing the prize money was very important to us” says Race Face’s Marshall Rutman. “It really helps us accomplish what we wanted to do with the contest – that is to help the winner realize their true potential as a pro rider. To do that, they need to be riding every day, be available for photo shoots, filming, traveling etc. That’s pretty tough to do when you have a day job. This prize money will allow the winner to make a living by riding their bike – the true definition of a professional rider.”

The format’s pretty simple. If you want to enter, you’ll need to submit a one-minute riding video that “best represents your view on the current freeride scene”. In addition, you’ll need a 30-second “lifestyle segment”. Race Face suggest you “use [it] as a forum to showcase your personality and to explain what freeriding means to you.”

The Race Face judging panel will pick their 16 favourite videos from all the entries. Those 16 will then go up on the Race Face website where we all get to vote for them. It’s a knockout competition, so the 16 will get whittled down to four semi-finalists and then two finalists. And then we get to see the lifestyle segments and vote for the winner…

Both finalists will be taken to next year’s Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California, where the winner will be announced.

It’d be great to see some British entries, so if you’re a bit handy on a bike, grab your camcorder and get riding. You’ll need to download an entry form from www.raceface.com/ufc to accompany your videos. Submission deadline is 6 February 2004, with the first round of on-line voting commencing 6 March.