Groundwork

The timeline

Seven chapters. What is in the can, and what comes next.

Filmed
In progress
Planned

Chapter 01MauritiusLate 2025Filmed

OriginalRiddim’

Mauritius. That is where I am from. We explore life on this little island, my family and close circles. It is anchored by home, culture and the people that taught me so many lessons before I started travelling. This act is a look back at how life was back then, local and contained.

Groundwork is about honouring roots, showing that the journeys we chase later in life often start in the most ordinary places. We went back to the places that shaped me and the ones that watched me grow and quietly built the person I became.

Henri stands in the red iron doorway of a white shop with blue shutters, a dog crossing the road in front

Sunset swim

A vegetable merchant reads the newspaper behind his stall at Port Louis market — A vegetable merchant, Port Louis market

Henri talks with a stall holder who points at him, both smiling, at Port Louis market — Port Louis market

Henri laughs at a kitchen table over a birthday cake while an older man looks on — Family, close circles

Close on Henri at the red iron gate of the shop, blue shutter beside him — La Boutik Pacsan

Fishing boats on a turquoise lagoon under a mountain, seen through green plants — The lagoon

A bike mechanic with a long white beard works on a wheel in a workshop crowded with bikes — The bike shop

Close portrait of the mechanic, eyes on his work — The people that taught me

A woman lifts the lid of a large pot in a busy kitchen — Home cooking

Henri leans out of a pickup window in evening traffic, street lights and brake lights behind — Evening traffic

Trucks and a motorbike in Port Louis traffic with the mountains behind the city — Port Louis

Three friends swim in the sea at sunset with jagged mountains behind — Sunset swim

Two friends on the bow of a small boat at dawn — First light

A wakeboarder carves across the lagoon behind the boat — Lagoon days

A village lane in the late afternoon, a man walking between houses and trees — The village

Chapter 02Mo’Bike, MauritiusLate 2025, ongoingFilmed

Bringing ithome

Everything the bike taught me abroad is coming back to Mauritius. We are building trails here now, with the people who taught me, and passing on what we learned on the way. We had the opportunity to dig a line at Mo’Bike. Short on time, we chose to upgrade an existing track named La Faya. The segment we worked on is a small right berm diving into a roller, then down onto another tight right-hander. It is the first piece of the bike park, and the reason Patrick’s story sits at the heart of the film.

Patrick started working as a trail builder at the age of 70, after more than 35 years of hard labour in the sugar cane fields. In the harsh economic reality of Mauritius he still needs to work to survive. We take the opportunity to shed light on people like him, quiet forces of resilience whose stories are meant to inspire future generations.

Patrick carries a basket of earth across the hillside at Mo’Bike, trees and the trail behind him

Against the sun

Mo’Bike, the land

Loading up

Blue rubber boots and a spade turning red earth — Red earth

A rider leans into the freshly built right berm, log retaining wall in front — First laps on the new berm

The berm and its log wall from above, a pickup parked under the trees — La Faya, the segment

Earth flies from a shovel towards the camera — Shaping

Gloved hands and a shoe in the dirt while packing the berm — Packing

Patrick in a red cap sets down a basket of earth on the trail — Patrick

A rider drops into the line under the big trees at Mo’Bike — Dropping in

Henri on the bike at dusk, smiling, storm clouds above — Last light

Chapter 03Queenstown, New ZealandEarly 2026Filmed

This ishome

Leaving Mauritius meant stepping into the unknown. Queenstown is a place built around mountains, movement and the outdoors. Far from Mauritius I found a new home, where everything shifted. Queenstown is where mountain biking entered my life, not as a goal or a career but as a discovery. A new way to explore and belong, and it kept shaping who I was until it led to the biggest chapter of my adult life, Escape Society. This chapter is about the community that made me a rider, the shops, the coaches and the friends who show up for every session. Outside Sports in the workshop, Onward MTB on the track as my coaches.

Through my travels I met incredible people. Among them Kilian Bron, a world-renowned mountain biker I once knew only through his films, who has since become a close friend and business partner. Together, with two others, we started a travel agency called Escape Society.

A rider drops down a rocky ridge at sunset, the lake far below — Above Lake Wakatipu at last light, Queenstown

The cliffs, from above

Before the run

Dust on the clay flats

Two riders push through golden dust on a canyon trail — Skippers Canyon

Henri carries his bike up a scree slope, autumn trees behind — Skippers Canyon, the carry

Henri in a helmet, backlit by the low sun on the hillside — Last light

A rider airs a jump between autumn trees — Autumn laps

A wide tussock valley under heavy cloud, river winding through — The valley

The truck on a gravel road in golden haze, cliffs behind — Skippers Road

Two friends in the truck seen through the dusty windscreen — On the way

Hands cutting meat beside an open fire at night — Camp

Friends around a campfire under the moon — Camp, late

A lone figure with a bike stands on a point above a deep blue lake, mountains under low cloud — The lake

An old Land Rover fords a braided river in a wide mountain valley — Getting there

Loading bikes onto the roof of the truck with mountains behind — Loading up

Two riders push along a high tussock ridge — The ridge

A rider in a full-face helmet threads between pine trunks on a rooty forest trail — Bike park laps

Light rays through a dark pine forest, a rider on the trail — Morning light

Where we areThree chapters are filmed, in Mauritius and Queenstown, and Europe has its first stop in the can. The race moves to next season, and the preparation for it has started. Everything below is what your support carries next.

Chapter 04UCI Downhill World ChampionshipsNext season

Worldchamps

2026 was the year I was meant to race. Unexpected issues took the start away from me, and I would rather say so plainly than dress it up. The preparation does not stop, and the target moves to next season. It has already started, on the track in Queenstown with Onward MTB as my coaches.

Preparation becomes routine. Days revolve around training, recovery, logistics and sometimes doubts. To me the World Championships are not about arriving as an outsider with something to prove. They are about committing fully to the process, seeing how far preparation can take you, and measuring yourself against a world you once only heard about from very far away.

They are also about having fun, and bringing home an experience that could inspire the next generation of Mauritian kids. One day, maybe, a Mauritian wins on the world stage.

Call sheetPreparation on film

PreparationTraining, recovery, logistics, doubts. Coaching sessions with Onward MTB, on film below
Race weekA humble, grounded participation at the Worlds, next season
The runThe courage to try despite knowing the outcome

Filming the line

Coaching with Onward MTB, Queenstown

Reviewing the run

The berm track, laps

Talking it through

Chapter 05EuropeFinale Ligure, early 2026In progress

Eurotrippin’

Exploring the world through mountain biking gives a whole new flavour to the places I visit. I get to bond with people from every walk of life, and it taught me to know myself better, and the world with that. We travel through France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and the United Kingdom to ride with friends. Italy came first, a few days on the dusty trails of Finale Ligure, already on film.

Call sheetItaly on film

FranceRiding with friends
ItalyFinale Ligure, riding with friends, on film
SwitzerlandRiding with friends
SpainRiding with friends
United KingdomRiding with friends

Chapter 06Wherever we rideOngoingIn progress

Theessence

Beyond performance, biking becomes a shared language. A way to connect, to pass things on, to ride alongside others rather than ahead of them. This act is about community, mentorship and shared sessions, what biking gives back when it stops being about progression and starts being about presence, generosity and belonging.

Three friends sit on a step in front of a white wall painted with red dragons and lanterns — The crew, Mauritius

Following lines

A rider airs a jump against the blue sky — Shared sessions

Friends change a wheel on the roadside next to a pickup with a bike on the back — Roadside

A rider lands a jump towards the camera over red earth — Mo’Bike, Mauritius

A rider rests his bike on the rocks beside a jungle river — The river

A rider walks away from the truck into green hills under low cloud — Into the hills

A calm sea at dusk with mountains on the horizon — Dusk

Chapter 07MauritiusThe final chapterPlanned

Givingback

The final chapter shifts the focus back home. It follows the creation of a foundation in Mauritius, using mountain biking as a positive outlet for kids and older generations alike. A way to build structure, confidence and belonging, offering an alternative to drugs, dealing and the paths that lead nowhere.

Mountain biking is often portrayed through performance, risk or elite achievement. In Mauritius, where many young people grow up with limited options and easy access to drugs, sport can quietly become a lifeline. Groundwork looks beyond performance to explore how riding can reshape a sense of self, create structure and open unexpected paths.

Call sheetNot yet filmed