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Here's everything you need to know about the DH World Cup in Fort William
Find out when to watch and who to watch as the downhillers return to the slopes of Aonach Mòr in Fort William for round two of the Mercedes-Benz UCI Downhill World Cup.
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Time passes and bike technology, champions and teams change but the 'classic' downhill venue of Fort William in Scotland stays largely the same. A win on this famous hill somehow means more than simply the points awarded.
Round two of this years Mercedes-Benz UCI World Cup will come from Aonach Mòr, the 17th running of top-flight racing in the Highlands.
Where are we?
Around 30,000 spectators descend on Fort William every year for the World Cup, but the town itself is relatively small and has only just over 10,000 full-time inhabitants.
The Scottish public turn out en-masse
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK, overhangs the town and is an attraction itself with the possibility of hiking to the peak. The area in general is a haven for walkers, climbers and outdoors enthusiasts, and the annual Fort William Mountain Festival is now an established event on the world calendar that celebrates all things adventurous and outdoors.
Against the Scottish backdrop
© Nathan Hughes
What's the track like?
Fort William's 2.8km track is a flat-out adrenaline ride that never fails to disappoint. Changes have taken place to the track over the years, and for 2017 a new section was constructed from the Deer Gate down to the woods to spice things up and give the riders something new to think about. In 2018, Liberty Boneyard, a rock garden, was built in the wood section of the course to prevent a repeat of 2017's event when the woods turned into a boggy slip and caught many a rider out.
Watch Rachel Atherton's GoPro run from the 2018 World Cup to get an idea of what the course is like:
5 min
Rachel Atherton's Fort William GoPro run
Rachel Atherton GoPro clip from Rd2 of the 2018 UCI DH World Cup in Fort William, Scotland on June 3, 2018.
There are still the familiar rock gardens, big slabs, huge jumps and the tight forest zone to contend with on the way down the course before you get to the full-on long motorway section and the masses at the finish line.
The Fort William crowd welcomes Tahnée Seagrave to a home win in 2018
© Nathan Hughes
It's a shame that we don't have consistent tracks in downhill to use as a yardstick between the various generations, but Fort Bill really is as close to that as we're likely to get. The top section is frequently wind-affected and despite the lack of ultra-high-tech sections, the perfect run from start hut to finish line is still very much an almost mythical beast.
Hot or not?
As mentioned, the British round has a propensity (perhaps unsurprisingly) for being somewhat 'inclement'... When it's summer in Fort William it can be blue skies and sunshine. And 20 minutes later thunder and lightning.
Fort William's famously crazy weather
© Sam Needham
Getting the perfect run here is a delicate balance. The track is often at its very best the day after a rain storm which helps keep the dust down up top but doesn't saturate the tricky wood section. Still is perhaps the most desirable as the flat-out across the top of Aonach Mòr no more needs strong gusts than a motorcycle needs an ash tray.
Previous winners
Some of the biggest names in mountain biking have won here. Of all of those names, Greg Minnaar's perhaps speaks the loudest. The South African has won here on no fewer than seven occasions in a 13-year bracket. After failing to qualify at round one in Maribor (the first time in his career that he hasn't made it into finals), grabbing number eight would presumably be just the tonic.
Minnaar on his way to a seventh Fort William win
© Nathan Hughes
The big news in 2018's running of this race was the victories of Tahnée Seagrave and Amaury Pierron. For Seagrave, she became the third British woman to win on home soil and for Pierron it was the crest of the wave of successes which would eventually sweep him to the overall title.
On top of that, young Scot Reece Wilson made it on to the podium in fourth for one of the stand-out results of the season.
Relive 2018's thrilling Fort William here:
7 min
These are the Fort William 2018 Downhill World Cup Finals highlights
Watch all the finals action and interviews from the second round of the Mercedes-Benz UCI MTB DH World Cup from Fort William, Scotland.
Who's going to win this year?
The first round of the UCI DH World Cup in Maribor seems an age ago back in April, so let's remind ourselves of the winners from there:
- Elite women: Tahnée Seagrave
- Elite men: Loïc Bruni
Elite Women: Rachel Atherton is undoubtedly the master of the Scottish track with three World Cup wins, but she hasn't won a World Cup race here since 2016. Going into this 2019 Fort William race, Tahnée Seagrave is probably the favourite to win, having won last year's race here and taken the first World Cup title in Maribor this season.
Seagrave starting off the season on top form
© Bartek Woliński
It promises to be a battle royale between her and Rachel this coming weekend. The annual British Downhill Series (BDS) race at Fort William took place in mid May and both Atherton and Seagrave were there. Atherton won then, although Seagrave wasn't a starter on finals day and used the race to practice on the course.
France's ever-improving Marine Cabirou was a close second to Atherton at the BDS so she may be a joker in the pack come Sunday.
Elite Men: Greg Minnaar, as mentioned above, is probably still smarting from his non-qualification for finals at Maribor. He'll not want to experience that again and this anger may drive him onto an eighth victory at Fort Bill.
Aaron Gwin is another rider who may not have been totally pleased with his work in Slovenia. He'll be chomping at the bit to deliver a first win since moving to the Intense team from YT Mob. Gwin hasn't won at Fort William since 2012. Intense may need to source a new frame for Gwin after his M29 (Large frame) build was stolen en-route to Fort William this week.
Loïc Bruni is currently brimming with confidence after his win at the first World Cup race in Maribor, but he's yet to master the Fort William track. His best result in a World Cup here was a fifth last year. In an effort to improve, the Frenchman arrived in Scotland early and has been practising and testing at Fort William over the past week.
Will we see the continued rise of the mixed wheelers?
This time two years ago we were all talking about the rise of the 29er in downhill racing. Round one in Lourdes had been a wash-out, but amid the dreary conditions the big wheels had shone through. Now, in 2019, we're looking at a new tech war; the mixed-wheel-size bike.
Loïc Bruni's all-new bike in the paddock
© Bartek Woliński
Thanks to a relaxing of one of the few technical rules of downhill which stipulated that both wheels had to be the same size, running a 29in front wheel and a 27.5in rear wheel is now legal. More than being legal, Bruni won round one on the above bike with Danny Hart in second aboard a similarly shod bike.
Where can I watch it?
You can watch all the action on Red Bull TV. Catch the Fort William Mercedes-Benz UCI Downhill World Cup from 12.30pm local time on June 2. Watch the live broadcast of the races via the link below and at these times around the world:
- Fort William, Scotland: 12.30pm
- Vancouver, Canada: 4.30am
- New York, USA: 7.30am
- Milan, Italy: 1.30pm
- Berlin, Germany: 1.30pm
- Sydney, Australia: 9.30pm
- Auckland, New Zealand: 11.30pm
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