I heard about this bonkers idea a few months back but I wasn’t exactly sure what it would entail or even if it could be pulled off. Sam ‘Flange’ Flanagan has a pretty tidy pad somewhere up in Lancashire, actually pretty sure that house is in Yorkshire, but anyway someone at Hope thought it would be a good idea to chuck their team rider from a hot air balloon and then go ride bikes with the likes of Andreu Lacondeguy, his brother Luis and Nico Vink.

So after the balloon is piloted over to Pain Sam jumps out and ends up handily close to La Molina to pick up a hitchhiker, something he is renowned for we hear, the Hope train arrives and things get decidedly more metal. Andreu, Luis and Nico get wild on the track in Spain hitting the berms so hard you can see them move! (5m49s)

We might be used to seeing the Lacondeguy’s on massive jumps but seeing them hit downhill tracks at this speed is just as impressive. Nico Vink peppers the video with his own style and all in all it’s great to see any of this lot in front of a camera.

The video was produced by Steelcity Media and Duncan Philpott was there shooting stills, here are a few of the bangers