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MTB phenom Jess Blewitt's brewing up a storm for 2023
As the first woman to ever ride at Red Bull Hardline, MTB star Jess Blewitt is no stranger to blazing a trail. We spoke to her at Crankworx Rotorua to get her take on her rookie year and what's next.
Coming into her second year on the elite scene, 20-year-old Jess Blewitt from New Zealand is locked and loaded to ride harder, faster and stronger in her biggest season yet.
Last season was a year of big highs and lows for Blewitt. At the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Snowshoe, she had an accident which saw her break her femur, collarbone, wrist, transverse process and ribs. But she made haste of the recovery and was back on the bike within three months.
Jess having fun at Cranworx Rotorua
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
I think I blew everyone's minds when I got back on a bike after three months
“Everyone gave the impression that it normally takes six months to a year to come back from those injuries. People probably thought that mentally I would take a lot longer to get back up to speed to ride gnarly stuff too,” Blewitt says.
“I think I blew everyone's minds when I got back on a bike after three months. I then raced at National Champs after four months and somehow won there. After that, I just had the best year of riding, with three podiums overall and I went to Red Bull Hardline.”
Flying high at the Taniwha Downhill
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
Changing the game at Red Bull Hardline
Blewitt pushed to get into what was historically a man's world, and got the call that she'd be the first woman to ride the toughest downhill race in the world.
“Everyone at Hardline was really welcoming, supportive and super chill. There was literally no pressure to ride if I didn't want to,” she says.
I was frothing to go and ride
“But I was frothing to go and ride. Val di Sole would be the most technical track I’ve ridden, but Hardline would be the most gnarly. It has massive jumps, gaps and drops. It's not smooth. It's not perfectly built. But that's the whole point.”
She committed to the track, but it was in attempting the renegade feature that she took a crash and broke her collarbone once again. In recognition of her commitment, determination and skill, Blewitt was awarded Rider of the Week.
On her way to victory at the Crankworx Taniwha Downhill
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
Giving it plenty of air
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
In action at the Rotorua Air DH
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
Pumping it up
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
Coming up this season
After capping off Crankworx Rotorua, Blewitt will be heading overseas for the full World Cup circuit. But while her priorities lie in the World Cup, her heart belongs to Hardline, and she says she wants to go back.
“Hardline is kind of my event in my eyes,” she says.
“It’s the best of my two things – racing and big jumps. I really want to go back, so unless I’m having an amazing season in the World Cup before that, I'll make it happen.”
From colder beginnings
Blewitt’s journey to elite mountain biking is not your usual one. Throughout her schooling years, Blewitt was a ski racer, but when it came time to make a career out of it, something held her back.
“I got to the point where I was like, do I really want to have a career out of this? And I just didn't really see myself with it. I say that now, but I actually do really miss skiing,” she says.
It was only in 2018 that she first got on a mountain bike and headed out with mates on Queenstown’s trails.
When I moved to Queenstown, all my mates were into mountain biking or racing downhill. When I told them I’d just ridden road bikes, I got friendly banter like: 'you can't do that, you’ve got to try this'. So one of my mates took me up and from there I just loved it.
While the physical reality of ski racing and downhill riding are vastly different, Blewitt has transferred her mental capacity to deal with high consequence, fast-paced racing.
Enjoying life at the Pump Track Challenge
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
“The mental stuff is very similar coming into mountain biking. Being comfortable with going fast, knowing that you're doing a high risk sport so there's going to be accidents that come with it and line choice. I always say that mentally I have to be 99 percent on it to perform well.
I always say that mentally I have to be 99 percent on it to perform well
“I have my way in my mind and it’s working. As soon as I put expectations on myself, I don't do well, so I’ll keep using the same approach that has got me this far.
“I’ve really upped my training. At the moment I’m focusing on racing – trying to go faster, get fitter and be stronger.
“Other than some downhill laps with mates on my days off, I actually don’t train a lot of downhill or jumps. I just do a lot of pedalling.”
The women are taking charge
The winner of the Taniwha Downhill at Crankworx Rotorua
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
The progression of women's riding continues to ramp up and Blewitt is just one of many who're looking to bust stereotypes and redefine where and how girls ride.
“When I first started racing in 2019 there was like two girls from my area in races. But ever since the pandemic, it’s kind of exploded and now we find full podiums of girls, which is really cool.
“All the girls are just killing it now,” she says.
Catch her in the Dual Slalom Rotorua
Blewitt took gold in the Summer Series Wānaka Dual Slalom at the beginning of the month, and will be dropping into the finals at Crankworx Rotorua.
“I have no expectations for it. I’m just going to go fast, have fun,” she says. “I don't think this track is as peddaly as the track we had in Wānaka, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
Whatever happens, the future is looking bright for Blewitt as she sends it downhill and forges a new way for women's riding.
