Red Bull Brings World-Class Racing to Stuttgart – So Why Can’t Locals Ride Their Own Trails?

on Mai 6, 2026

Stuttgart just pulled off something impressive. The city hosted a stop of the Red Bull Cerro Abajo urban downhill series, 35 of the world’s best riders charging through the streets of one of Germany’s most iconic cities. Epic stuff. Politicians were thrilled, local media loved it, and for one weekend, Stuttgart looked like a proper mountain bike destination.

Published by Radical Life Studios / MTB Report

Then Focus Bikes, a Stuttgart-based bike manufacturer, posted something on Instagram that cut right through the celebration. Sure, the event is great, they said. But don’t mistake a Red Bull spectacle for actual trail infrastructure. The city’s riders are still stuck riding trails that are technically illegal.

That’s not hyperbole. It’s the law.

Since 1995, the state of Baden-Württemberg has enforced what locals call the „2-Meter Rule“, a regulation that bans cyclists from riding any forest path narrower than two meters (about six and a half feet). In practice, that means virtually every singletrack in the region is off-limits. Baden-Württemberg is the only state in all of Germany with a rule like this. Every other state lets riders use forest trails. Not here.

The rule has been challenged before. Back in 2014, a petition to scrap it collected over 58,000 signatures. The state parliament rejected it, without explanation.

Thirty years on, nothing has changed. Local riders navigate a patchwork of tolerated-but-not-legal trails, always one bad encounter with a forest ranger away from a fine. Trail associations can’t officially organize rides on singletrack. Coaches and guides who lead group rides on narrow paths are technically committing an offense.

Focus put it plainly: Stuttgart’s landscape is perfect for mountain biking. The city is home to major cycling industry players. That comes with a responsibility to actually build legal trail infrastructure, not just show up for a weekend when Red Bull foots the bill.

It’s a tension American riders will recognize. Trail access fights are nothing new on this side of the Atlantic either. But there’s something particularly absurd about a city celebrating world-class downhill racing while its own community rides in a legal gray zone.

The Red Bull event was a great show. Now how about some trails you can actually ride?