With less than two weeks to go until the MTB World Cup hits Fort William (May 21-22), here’s how this weekend’s racing went down.
NB: we don’t put winners’ names in World Cup story headlines but in this UK National Series instance there’s no TV replay to ‘spoil’.
Fort William hasn’t hosted much in the way of International level Elite downhill racing since The Before Times (2019 basically). It’s bigly exciting this month to see it being the venue for a round of the UK National DH Series and a round of the UCI World Cup DH Series too.
The second round of the UK National Series event just happened. There were a number of international star names present exactly because the World Cup is happening shortly (May 21-22 to be exact).
Rd2 BC National Downhill Series 2022 results
Top 10s where applicable.
Looking forward to the World Cup
After two years on hold due to The Usual Reason, the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup returns to Fort William in a couple of weeks (21-22 May).
This will be the 19th time the Fort William event takes place. Crowds of over 21,000 are expected, cheering on 250 of the world’s best riders.
The event is expected to provide a £4 million benefit to the Scottish economy. Since its launch in 2002, the award-winning event has contributed over £43 million to the Scottish economy.
One of the Elite Men favourites Matt Walker (2020 Overall World Cup Champion): “Fort William is a real highlight in the calendar and I can’t wait to get back up there this year and compete. The fans are always incredible and after two years away, it’ll be great to compete in front of them again and feed off the energy and noise they provide.”
Reece Wilson (2020 World Champion) has a great track record at Fort William. It was his podium privateering performance in 2018 that first put him on the International racing radar.
Wilson: “It’s fantastic to have the Fort William World Cup back for 2022. It’s such an iconic venue and never fails to deliver exciting racing. There are not many tracks that challenge you the way Fort William does, and I always enjoy riding it. I’m excited to get it underway!”
Mike Jardine, of organisers Rare Management: “It’s great to be back in the Fort this year. It’s always exciting to welcome all the fans and the world’s top riders to Scotland but this year feels extra special after the challenges of the previous two years. There’s no better place for a downhill mountain bike showdown and it’s a fantastic chance for us to all give a huge Fort William welcome to two wonderful home riders in Matt Walker and Reece Wilson, who enjoyed brilliant success in 2020.”
For more information and event tickets, visit fortwilliamworldcup.co.uk
Find out more about the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and the Fort William event by liking the event on Facebook, and following @fortwilliammtbworld on Instagram.
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