It’s less than a month to go before the World Cup circus arrives in Fort William and we’re as keen as you are to know if that dreaded forest section will remain for 2018. Luckily the Fort William track isn’t in a top secret location and is host to a number of races through the year, so we do have a first look at the what the elite will be up against on 3rd June.
Top UK rider and YouTube sensation, Ben Cathro, has recently uploaded this his GoPro course preview of the Fort William track in its current conditions. While he wasn’t able to ride the entire new track, due to ongoing construction works, he does show us some major changes that we can look forward too for this years race.
The takeaway detail is that the forest section is still included but has undergone some significant upgrades and changes compared to last year’s boggy mess which was a handful of riders take a tumble during their race run.
The updated forest section features a smooth run-in that has been highly manicured leading into a step-down and left-hander. The step down will actually take riders over the boggy quagmire and into a fresh section of trail at much higher speeds than we saw last year.
Shortly after the new forest step down a huge amount of work has been carried out on the last section of the forest with the trail now built up with rocks where it was once muddy. Again, this section is now completely removed from mud and should mean faster times all around and that the first riders down won’t have an advantage over those coming later in the field.
You can see all those changes mentioned above in Ben Cathro’s course preview below. The video is around 8 minutes long, but you’ll see those track changes from 4 minutes on.
The Singletrack crew will be heading down to Fort William towards the end of this month so keep an eye out for race updates, first looks, and interviews with all the top riders, but if you can’t wait read our latest edition of #makingupthenumbers which took place at the National in Fort Bill last week.
FORT WILLIAM NATIONAL 2018 RESULTS
Speaking for the Fort William National last week the race saw Danny Hart and Rachel Atherton back to form taking their respective wins. Hart took the win just ahead of Greg Williamson onboard his team Madison Saracen all-carbon Myst race bike, while Rachel took the win ahead of Tahnee Seagrave, a great result considering her injuries at the end of the 2017 season.
Men
- Danny Hart
- Greg Williamson
- Faustin Figaret
- Joe Breeden
- Remi Thirion
Women
- Rachel Atherton
- Tahnee Seagrave
- Katy Curd
- Carina Cappelari
- Aston Tutt
We wonder if the WC round of Fort William will see the same names at the top of the podium or if Gwin, Minnaar, and Myriam Nicole will shake things up?
