Today, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports announces the return of original series Race Bikes, following the success of its debut season.
Season two will air on WBD across mainland Europe (via Eurosport) and the UK and Ireland (via TNT Sports) as well as its streaming platform HBO Max. The behind-the-scenes four-part docuseries follows host Ric McLaughlin as he looks to lift the lid on some of downhill and cross-country’s most iconic bikes, meeting the riders and designers behind them and weaving each machine’s story together with rich archive footage.
The first episode airs on Tuesday 7 April at 17:45 CEST (check local listings) with a deep dive into Loris Vergier’s Commencal Supreme – one of the most successful downhill mountain bikes of all time. The 30-minute episode includes interviews with the man whose name it bears – Max Commencal – shot at the manufacturer’s HQ in Andorra.
Week two sees McLaughlin turn back the clock and head in search of 2011 and 2012’s most-winning bike – Aaron Gwin’s Trek Session 9.9. The American won nine UCI World Cup victories and two UCI World Cup overall titles aboard the Trek World Racing rig over the two seasons, becoming the first American to do so. McLaughlin’s search takes him to ex-manager Martin Whiteley’s house in Spain, where the pair delve into one of the most iconic periods in the sport’s history – and the bike that led the way.
Episode three turns its attention to cross-country and one of the most cutting-edge designs to line-up on the current start grid – the Cannondale Scalpel. The show delves deep into the American manufacturer’s story and how it went from underdog to the top of the world, while also covers the career of 2020 Olympic gold medallist and Cannondale Factory Racing rider, Jolanda Neff.
The series wraps up with one of the most mysterious bikes to grace the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series – Loïc Bruni’s Specialized Project Black. Developed out in the open but always kept relatively unmarked and under wraps, it’s the most cutting-edge bike to be covered yet on Race Bikes, and the first that McLaughlin has got to experience himself.
Ric McLaughlin, Producer, Director and Presenter of Race Bikes, said: “Race Bikes is all about the bikes, but behind each one is a fascinating person and an equally fascinating story - how the bike was created and how it ended up where it is today. If you’re a core fan, you’ll definitely take something from it, but even if you only rode bikes as a kid and haven’t touched one in 20 years, there’s still something here for you.”
This season follows on from the success of season one, where the four-episode series reached 3.3M viewers on linear TV (Eurosport and TNT Sports). All episodes of season one are currently available to stream on HBO Max.
Schedule (timings subject to change, check local listings):
Episode 1: Loris Vergier’s Commencal Supreme, Tuesday 7 April, Eurosport / TNT Sports, 17:45 CEST.
Episode 2: Aaron Gwin’s Trek Session 9.9, Tuesday 14 April, Eurosport / TNT Sports, 17:30 CEST
Episode 3: Jolanda Neff’s Cannondale Scalpel, Tuesday 21 April, Eurosport / TNT Sports, 18:00 CEST
Episode 4: Loïc Bruni’s Specialized Project Black, Tuesday 28 April, Eurosport / TNT Sports, 17:45 CEST
All episodes will be available on demand on HBO Max.
In addition to Race Bikes, WBD Sports’ documentary The Cycle is now available to stream on HBO Max. The 60-minute documentary follows five riders including WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series stars Lachlan Stevens McNab (Trek - Unbroken DH) and Evie Richards (Trek - Unbroken XC) and goes behind-the-scenes to reveal what it means to live as a professional rider.
The 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series season kicks off on May 1 in MONA YongPyong, South Korea – marking the return of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup to the Asian continent for the first time in 25 years. Live and on-demand coverage of every race is available through WBD’s channels and platforms including Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (UK & Ireland) with streaming on HBO Max, as well as around the world through WBD’s broadcast partners.
