Sam Gaze tells his story in the documentary "This Rider"

The sporting career of New Zealand cyclist Sam Gaze is one of the most turbulent in recent years. After a difficult start, he became one of the most promising MTB riders, but then fell into a dark period from which he seems to have recovered in 2022 by winning the Short Track and XCM World Championships. Now, the documentary "This Rider" tells his story.

The story of Samuel Gaze, the phoenix of mountain biking

From New Zealand he had to find his own way to race in Europe, where he often slept in his car to get to the races. But his talent soon took him to the top of the World Cup and he is one of the few riders who can claim to have beaten Nino Schurter when the Swiss rider was in his prime.

Soon after, Gaze fell into a series of injuries that began with a hard crash at the 2019 Cape Epic. From there, his consistency was well below expectations. But three years after signing with his current team, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Gaze is recapturing his star and in 2022 he won the Albstadt World Cup Short Track, the Short Track World Championships and the XCM World Championships just days after breaking his collarbone.

With this season's results, no one doubts that Sam Gaze will be one of the big names at the 2023 World Cup.