The dust at Nail Can Hill Mountain Bike Park must have something special in it because Ollie Davis, downhill extraordinaire, calls the town around it home.
At only 20 years old, Davis has a huge number of mountain biking achievements under his belt; I’m not just talking locally, but also all over the world.
Davis has topped Australian events, stood on the podium next to the fastest Junior riders on the globe, and ridden for renowned factory downhill racing teams like the Santa Cruz Syndicate and now Trek Factory Racing.
But, like every growth story, the part we all want to know is: where did it all begin? To get the answer, Flow caught up with Davis to learn what first sparked his love for mountain biking and the wildfire racing career he has grown.
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In the Beginning | A Nail Can Hill local
For Davis, mountain biking was the second two-wheeled sport he got into; like many mountain bikers around the world, motocross riding was where his love for speed and style first appeared.
His Dad, Aaron Davis, was a big motocross rider in his day, and introduced the sport to Ollie and his brother, Paddy. Fostering an inherent competitive streak from the get-go, the pair competed in local motorbike rounds for a few years, before swapping the motor for a pair of pedals.
“Me and my brother were raised in motocross in the beginning,” says Davis. “Then (motocross) got quite expensive, and my brother had a few injuries. We always rode bikes, whether it be BMX (or mountain biking)… so we finished (motocross) and started riding.”
Once the mountain bikes came out, Davis and his brother never looked back. The motorbikes were left to gather dust in the shed, and all thoughts were turned to the mountain bike park instead.
“I bought Ollie and his older brother a couple of mountain bikes, and they never hopped on the motorbikes ever again,” says Aaron Davis. “But I loved it, I can’t say enough about the mountain biking culture.”
From here on out, mountain biking became a daily activity; weekdays were spent with The Fastline Bikeademy, sectioning local lines at Nail Can Hill, and weekends entailed fast-paced shuttle laps at Mystic Mountain Bike Park in Bright.
Although the motorbikes were gone, a love for life between the tape remained; it was only a matter of time before Davis’ passion for riding turned to the races.
Riding With the Older Guys | Getting into racing
The competitive aspect of riding bikes did not take long to appear in Davis’ life… not surprising when you had legends of the sport like Dean Lucas, Darcy Wilkins, and the Zwar brothers, Oli and Ben, taking you out for rides.
From the sprightly age of 12 years old, Davis was heading out on the bike with some of the fastest gravity riders in the country. The elder Davis says it was great for these older, more experienced riders to take his son out for rides – otherwise, investing in a ‘super-boost e-bike’ would have been the only option to keep up with his son.
“I had full trust that they could take my 12-year-old kids away. (They were just having) good fun riding bikes, and I had 100% confidence in these older guys,” Aaron Davis says. “That really blew me away because I don’t think you get that in many other sports.”
These rides had a knock-on effect and before long Davis was looking towards racing mountain bikes, not only riding them.
He started in smaller-scale Dirt Crits around Albury, sampling a few local Vic Enduro rounds along the way. Although he says these races were a great place to start, downhill was where he really wanted to focus his attention.
“I just always thought downhill (racing) was the coolest thing ever… the bikes, the gear, the people… all I wanted to do was race,” Davis says, “I got my first downhill bike for my fourtheenth birthday and did my first downhill race, which happened to be National Champs at Mt Beauty. I got smoked, but I loved it.”
The atmosphere of the races is one of Davis’ biggest attractions to the sport. All of the riders are tackling the same dangerous, fast track together and respect each other for it. This mixture of adrenaline and good spirits creates the best sportsmanship and vibes all event-long.
Now a regular face at the races, Davis crossed paths with Dean Lucas who was soon to become a prominent part of Ollie’s racing and riding career.
“He (Lucas) helped me out with everything, such as bike deals and sponsor deals. We rode together, and it helped me a lot,” Davis says. “He showed me the ropes and made me realise that we were here (racing) just for fun. I’m very grateful for having him around.”
Race after race, Davis began to rise further up the ranks. Progressing from State to National rounds, he was not only enjoying each event, but getting good results at them, too.
With a village behind him and results to boot, the view of a future in mountain biking was becoming clearer by the second.
The Union and Davis’ World Cup debut
It was in 2021 that Davis finally made it over the pond to race in the world arena. At the beginning of the year, the Zwar brothers formed a downhill racing team, ‘The Union.’ They knew of Davis’ potential from many years of riding and racing together, and signed him immediately.
He was in for a huge season. He had never set foot outside of Australia before, let alone compete on the international stage, and his nerves were set to overdrive. Standing alongside the Zwar brothers and Kiwi shredders, Tohuto Ariki and Finn Hawkesby-Browne, Davis says he could not have hoped for a better introduction into the World Cup racing routine.
“It was a pretty big experience for me, but luckily I had the Zwars to help me out and the support of The Union,” Davis says.
He recalls being surprised by just how different the racing scene was overseas compared to Australia. It was not only the colossal mountains and steep terrain which set it apart, but how much the race tracks were subject to change over the course of just a few runs.
“There are just so many fast riders on them (that) the lines are always changing… I’d say that’s probably the most difficult part and the biggest difference from (racing in) Australia,” says Davis.
Even at the age of 17, this did not deter him at all. After a season racing in France, Switzerland, Austria, and parts of the US and Canada, he came away with a hoard of new experiences, not to mention a handful of top five results, including two fourth places in the Les Gets and Snowshoe World Cups.
One Step Forward Two Steps Back | Bad timing for a broken leg
Davis’ Father says that Ollie was not a massive risk-taker growing up. He always did what he thought he was capable of, pushing himself just enough to improve at his own pace. This clean streak, unfortunately, only lasted so long as disaster struck at the end of 2021.
“That was probably my first proper injury. (I broke) my tib-fib and just had a whole lot of issues with my tendons and my foot on that leg,” Davis says.
For the first part of the racing season following his injury, Davis was forced to swap rocks and roots, for cabin fever and a hoard of physio exercises. But he is not one to sit back and mourn an injury. As a top-age junior in 2022, Davis was on the cusp of racing in the elite ranks the following year. This is when professional teams start watching closely for the most promising young riders to support. In the hope of laying a solid foundation for a future in racing, it was important for him to make it overseas that year.
Eyes set on this goal, Davis was straight to the physio’s office and hard at work in the gym. His determination won the battle, and he was back lapping European mountains for World Cup Round 3 in Leogang. He managed to race nine World Class events that year, but with such a fresh injury, the results just weren’t where he wanted them to be.
Working closely with his coach, Alan Milway, Davis lived and breathed gym sessions, sprints, and time on the bike in the 2022/2023 off-season. With all this work going on behind the scenes, he began to find the flow of things again, just in time for his first year in elite.
Two times the Factory Racing
Riding for a factory team is any racer’s dream; with the support, the gear and media attention — the professional lifestyle has a lot going for it.
When he was a youngster just getting into the sport, his Father recounts the way he would sit in front of the TV watching the races, saying all he wanted to do when he was older was race downhill and be part of a professional team.
In 2024, he signed with Commencal Schwalbe at the beginning of the year. During the Australian Downhill National Championships, however, he got a call from the Santa Cruz Syndicate, offering him a spot on their team.
“I was racing National Champs, and I think it was race night,” says Davis. “I got a message and it was from Seb Kemp, who works for Santa Cruz. It was a message saying that Jackson (Goldstone) is going to be out for a bit longer than (they) thought, and they want a fill-in rider to replace his spot for the year.”
Davis says he was worried about moving to the Syndicate so soon after signing with Commencal but the owner of the brand, Max Commencal, was very understanding of the change.
Accepting the offer from Syndicate was a huge step. For the young rider from Albury, everything was accounted for and training and riding became the main priority, and everything about the races was much more serious.
“All you have to do is focus on racing,” says Davis. “It was a huge step going from a really low-budget team, like The Union.”
The Union presented itself exceptionally well but in the background they still had to overcome all the hurdles non-professional teams had to face: struggles for pit set-up areas, limited access to replacement bike parts and worries over accommodation and food.
“It was quite limited what we had and we were all just sharing what we could bring over (from Australia),” Davis says. “We had one mechanic which five riders all shared, so it was bad if we had an emergency right before racing.”
With the Syndicate’s larger budget, none of that is even a consideration — it’s just taken care of.
Davis mentions that the support provided to riders on the Syndicate was mind blowing, but an increase in pressure was also a major factor in the move. Because racing is all you have to think about and there is so much more media coverage involved, the expectations are much higher.
Despite the mental challenges of moving to a bigger team, Davis says that the increased support is hugely advantageous. With mountain biking legends like Steve Peat helping you with everything from line choices on the track, to the mental training and toughness, all aspects of a successful ride are set in place for race day.
Looking back on Davis’ debut with the Syndicate, he had a pretty insane year. Although he did not come away with the perfect racing season, Davis still has some great results to show from it: Smashing his way down the track in Pal Arinsal, Davis made his way into eighth place at the World Championships in Andorra, and was a consistent top-contender in many World Cup finals.
This feature was reported in two halves and the second part after news hit that he would not be continuing with Santa Cruz Syndicate. Ollie had a whirlwind of a year under the tutelage of Steve Peat, but is not one to dwell on the past. Instead, Davis tells Flow he is looking keenly toward what lays ahead in a new program with Trek Factory Racing.
He says that the move to Trek was the best for his future career, and he is excited to continue pushing the boundaries of the sport with his new team in 2025.
What’s Next?
Davis is on an upwards spiral. From the small kid with eyes glued to a TV filled with World Cup live streams and the film, ‘3 Minute Gaps,’ Davis has made his way into that screen himself — maybe even inspiring the next generation shredder cutting laps on Nail Can Hill.
On a new bike and fresh racing program, Davis hit the ground running, winning round two of the National Series in Maydena, Tasmania, in early February. However, he was struck with a bit of bad luck on the final jump at Hardline, sending him tumbling into the finish area. Unfortunately, he would leave Tassie in a sling with a broken collarbone, but the young rider is sure to be back on the bike in no time.
With a racer mindset and style, Davis will no doubt continue to blow minds with his mountain biking flair. Watch this space for more news and updates on Davis’ mountain biking journey: the rider from Albury/Wodonga, turned pro.
Photos: Sven Martin / Santa Cruz, Sebastian Schieck / Santa Cruz, Brett Hemmings / Red Bull Content Pool, Matt Staggs/Trek Facotry Racing, Riley Mclay, Trek Factory Racing, Erik Retamal / Trek Factory Racing
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