World Cup | Fort William – Saturday
Round-up from day two of the fourth World Cup round in Fort William. Inside are results from the downhill qualifying and 4x finals.
Saturday and the day that the carnival starts for real. Famed for being the event with the best spectators and the best atmosphere, Fort William always manage to pull the tricks out year after year. Learning from last year’s mistake of running the 4x finals on the Friday, the ever popular event returned this year to where it belongs; Saturday night.That meant spectators were soon arriving to spend the day watching the run up to the downhill qualifying, culminating in the 4x finals and interspersed with wandering through the pits to look at all that the teams had on show. With the cross country event absent from the calendar, the finish arena certainly may have looked a little more sparse than it has done at recent events but there was still plenty of buzz. Continuing the theme from Friday, early on in the day an umbrella was a sure fire ticket to new found friends, with both riders and spectators alike doing their best to avoid an early drenching from the many heavy showers. But as time wore on, the showers became less frequent and the sun even began to make an appearance (as did the dreaded midges) with full blue skies out in time for the 4x racing.
![photo]()
Travelling all over the world in order to race the World Cups may sound glamorous but, unless you are among the privileged few who are guaranteed to qualify thanks to a high enough overall position, the risk is that it can all be over before it has even begun. With all the riders having at least 20 UCI points and competition as tight as it comes, the pressure to put in a time good enough for a top eighty finish is huge when fighting at the lower end of the cut; a couple of small mistakes or a mechanical easily enough to take you out of the running and leave you tweaking your thumbs come Sunday when only the top eighty men and top 20 women are allowed to take to the track.
![photo]()
The overnight rain had seemingly helped the track hold together much better today as, despite course sweeping, the lime surface when dry can at times be akin to riding on oiled marbles. Better too were the woods after some tlc which improved the flow and meant riders were enjoying the section more than they had initially.
![photo]()
Proof that a single digit number does not necessarily mean that mistakes don’t happen was Trek’s Justin Leov. Looking quick out of the gate he was soon in trouble when his back wheel overstepped the mark on the run into one of the first boardwalk sections. Dropping the wheel over the edge, this left his chain device bearing the brunt of his momentum and he was soon spat off at high speed to land heavily onto the rocks which at that point line the track.
![photo]()
Having placed top twenty here last year, local Chris Hutchens would have been looking for another good result but mechanical issues put paid to that and pushed him to near last. I say near, for that dubious honour was taken by 2007 Junior World Champion, Ruaridh Cunningham. Rumours are that his issues started when a brake pad fell out. Also falling foul to the gods of reliability was Thibaut Ruffin who snapped his chain as he powered out of the gate.
Fort William Qualifying video:
![photo]()
Looking at the other side of the coin and there are some great stories. After many races and not qualifying, Ireland’s adopted son Scott Laughland put together a run which, whilst not perfect, netted him one of the coveted top eighty slots. Actually taking eightieth place was Rob Smith on a 5:11, sitting him at the head of five other riders on the same second who don’t unfortunately move through to the finals. Another rider close to not making it was Rennie who has looked off the pace all weekend.
![photo]()
In the women’s, Tracy Moseley took third spot alongside Emmeline Ragot in second, both some way off the pace of Sabrina Jonnier with nearly eight seconds clear advantage over the rest of the field.
![photo]()
Taking the men’s lead was Gee Atherton with a superb 4:43, leaving him with the upper hand over Greg Minnaar by the slimmest of margins. Sick Mick took third, despite on the recovery from flu, whilst Sam Blenkinsop was fourth and Peaty fifth. Local Ben Cathro, proving that last year’s top ten in the final was no fluke netted another here today with ninth. Also putting in storming performances were the British riders Dan Stanbridge in eighteenth and Danny Hart taking twentieth as well as fastest Junior.
![photo]()
By the time 4x rolled around, the skies were blue and the sunshine golden. The air was also thick with midges (and swearing) although not as bad as they can be. After some last minute practice, the finals started at 7pm with the men running through 1/16, 1/8 to the quarters whilst the women started in the quarters owing to fewer competitors. One of the big surprises of the day was Filip Polc not making it through to the quarters whilst Dan Atherton did but made it no further. Scott Beaumont was another to go out in the quarters but was second in his heat and scored tenth overall. Michal Prokop won the small final for fifth spot whilst in the main it was Jared Graves, taking his third win in four rounds, from Saladini in second, the CRC/Intense rider Lukas Mechura in third and Jurg Meijer in fourth after a somewhat processional final.
![photo]()
With the women’s event having started from the quarters, Beerten took the win in the small final for fifth overall. Fionn Griffiths spiced things up in her semi race when, pulling the move of the event, she smoked past the rest of her heat on the outside of the first turn to go from last to first in one fell swoop. Having secured her spot in the final with that move, Fionn finished third over Buhl in fourth. Having not put a foot wrong all weekend, Jill Kintner kept it lit in the final to what had been for many an expected win. Second placed was Caroline Buchanan having started off in heat four alongside the British Fionn.
![photo]()
Next up are the Sunday downhill finals of which, in conjunction with MTBCut, we’ll be providing plenty of coverage. There’ll also be more photos being loaded periodically throughout the day to our World Cup album.
www.descent-gear.com
www.mtbcut.tv
cloverleaf.pinkbike.com
Saturday and the day that the carnival starts for real. Famed for being the event with the best spectators and the best atmosphere, Fort William always manage to pull the tricks out year after year. Learning from last year’s mistake of running the 4x finals on the Friday, the ever popular event returned this year to where it belongs; Saturday night.That meant spectators were soon arriving to spend the day watching the run up to the downhill qualifying, culminating in the 4x finals and interspersed with wandering through the pits to look at all that the teams had on show. With the cross country event absent from the calendar, the finish arena certainly may have looked a little more sparse than it has done at recent events but there was still plenty of buzz. Continuing the theme from Friday, early on in the day an umbrella was a sure fire ticket to new found friends, with both riders and spectators alike doing their best to avoid an early drenching from the many heavy showers. But as time wore on, the showers became less frequent and the sun even began to make an appearance (as did the dreaded midges) with full blue skies out in time for the 4x racing.
Sabrina Jonnier
Travelling all over the world in order to race the World Cups may sound glamorous but, unless you are among the privileged few who are guaranteed to qualify thanks to a high enough overall position, the risk is that it can all be over before it has even begun. With all the riders having at least 20 UCI points and competition as tight as it comes, the pressure to put in a time good enough for a top eighty finish is huge when fighting at the lower end of the cut; a couple of small mistakes or a mechanical easily enough to take you out of the running and leave you tweaking your thumbs come Sunday when only the top eighty men and top 20 women are allowed to take to the track.
Tracy Moseley
The overnight rain had seemingly helped the track hold together much better today as, despite course sweeping, the lime surface when dry can at times be akin to riding on oiled marbles. Better too were the woods after some tlc which improved the flow and meant riders were enjoying the section more than they had initially.
Greg Minnaar
Proof that a single digit number does not necessarily mean that mistakes don’t happen was Trek’s Justin Leov. Looking quick out of the gate he was soon in trouble when his back wheel overstepped the mark on the run into one of the first boardwalk sections. Dropping the wheel over the edge, this left his chain device bearing the brunt of his momentum and he was soon spat off at high speed to land heavily onto the rocks which at that point line the track.
Gee Atherton
Having placed top twenty here last year, local Chris Hutchens would have been looking for another good result but mechanical issues put paid to that and pushed him to near last. I say near, for that dubious honour was taken by 2007 Junior World Champion, Ruaridh Cunningham. Rumours are that his issues started when a brake pad fell out. Also falling foul to the gods of reliability was Thibaut Ruffin who snapped his chain as he powered out of the gate.
Sam Hill
Looking at the other side of the coin and there are some great stories. After many races and not qualifying, Ireland’s adopted son Scott Laughland put together a run which, whilst not perfect, netted him one of the coveted top eighty slots. Actually taking eightieth place was Rob Smith on a 5:11, sitting him at the head of five other riders on the same second who don’t unfortunately move through to the finals. Another rider close to not making it was Rennie who has looked off the pace all weekend.
Roger Rinderknecht
In the women’s, Tracy Moseley took third spot alongside Emmeline Ragot in second, both some way off the pace of Sabrina Jonnier with nearly eight seconds clear advantage over the rest of the field.
Kieran McAvoy
Taking the men’s lead was Gee Atherton with a superb 4:43, leaving him with the upper hand over Greg Minnaar by the slimmest of margins. Sick Mick took third, despite on the recovery from flu, whilst Sam Blenkinsop was fourth and Peaty fifth. Local Ben Cathro, proving that last year’s top ten in the final was no fluke netted another here today with ninth. Also putting in storming performances were the British riders Dan Stanbridge in eighteenth and Danny Hart taking twentieth as well as fastest Junior.
Romain Saladini
By the time 4x rolled around, the skies were blue and the sunshine golden. The air was also thick with midges (and swearing) although not as bad as they can be. After some last minute practice, the finals started at 7pm with the men running through 1/16, 1/8 to the quarters whilst the women started in the quarters owing to fewer competitors. One of the big surprises of the day was Filip Polc not making it through to the quarters whilst Dan Atherton did but made it no further. Scott Beaumont was another to go out in the quarters but was second in his heat and scored tenth overall. Michal Prokop won the small final for fifth spot whilst in the main it was Jared Graves, taking his third win in four rounds, from Saladini in second, the CRC/Intense rider Lukas Mechura in third and Jurg Meijer in fourth after a somewhat processional final.
Patrick Campbell-Jenner
With the women’s event having started from the quarters, Beerten took the win in the small final for fifth overall. Fionn Griffiths spiced things up in her semi race when, pulling the move of the event, she smoked past the rest of her heat on the outside of the first turn to go from last to first in one fell swoop. Having secured her spot in the final with that move, Fionn finished third over Buhl in fourth. Having not put a foot wrong all weekend, Jill Kintner kept it lit in the final to what had been for many an expected win. Second placed was Caroline Buchanan having started off in heat four alongside the British Fionn.
Filip Polc
Next up are the Sunday downhill finals of which, in conjunction with MTBCut, we’ll be providing plenty of coverage. There’ll also be more photos being loaded periodically throughout the day to our World Cup album.
www.mtbcut.tv
cloverleaf.pinkbike.com
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But besides that, gooood race!