Madison Saracen 2014 - UCI World Cup 3: Fort William

If downhill mountain biking was a religion then Fort William would surely be its Mecca. The drama starts as you drive through Glencoe pass with the surrounding mountains leading you to the base of Anaoch Mor and the home of arguably the most exciting round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. With all at stake and with a home crowd looking on with wild chanting, the pressure to perform is at an all time high. The whole family make the trip north to the Scottish Highlands to support the team through this one.

Fort William is a track that is known by most on the DH scene and many will have even raced this track a hand full of times. For the ones who are not so familiar with this legendary demanding run, it has a bit of everything! Dropping in to fast flowy turns in the open section, it soon takes a rocky twist. After a beating on the rocks the track goes quintessentially British with a natural technical section in the trees. Then to finish off, the infamous motorway section tops off this full body work out of a track. A true test of technical skill, determination and endurance, only a handfull of racers have what it takes to conquer the Mor…




Confidence is key coming into this big race on home turf. With good past history here, Manon with a podium, Sam taking a top 10 a few years back and Matt fresh off a 2nd at the British National, confidence and expectation was high for the team. The BDS several weeks ago gave the team the chance to set the bikes up and look ahead to the World Cup. Preparation is a big part of success here in Fort William, not just for the bikes but for also the weather, which was set to be classic Scottish sunshine (rain) and the inevitable infestation of midges.

Donning the head nets and mosi spray it was time to hit the track for qualifying…with a difference as it turned out! Forecast of stormy weather forced the whole of Saturdays schedule forward, with practice at 6.30am and with the proposal of closing the gondola before the wind reached its peak. This forced a decision that all riders were required to be topside by 10am and would have to sit tight unit their run. Lucky for the team they had coffee fuelled Alex Lovett and an Outdoor Tech Turtle speaker to keep them entertained as the weather brewed up an interesting batch of strong gusts!





Eager to keep the overall in sight, Manon needed to bag as many points as possible. This played on her mind as she powered down the motorway section and hitting the second split showed a massive margin up on the current hot seat rider. Sending it over the last few jumps and across the line she pulled another four seconds out of no where and went into the lead by a considerable ten second margin. The result that Manon had been looking for coming into this weekend, all she needed to do now was repeat it come race day.


Just as Sam was looking to set another blinding quali run, the Highlands fought back and snagged him as he exited the mid-way woods section. Falling back on time he soon found himself low in the ranks, but with his recent performances at the previous two rounds he was awarded protected status and still racing come Sunday.



Knowing he is on pace after the recent national, Matt was looking comfortable on track during his qualifying run, despite the prevailing winds. His smooth riding reflected in his time after he managed to collect a smart 9th place run. A much needed result which was sure to sit well as he looked forward to racing.



This long demanding track was a tough match for the plucky Kazu. Putting up a strong fight in the tricky conditions he found it a battle to stay in contention at his first visit to The Fort. Dropping over the backside of the hill and out the weather, he cracked on, putting down the pedal in the bottom section to make up for lost time. With a last blast of Kazu style over the final jumps he came across the line in 77th place. Bumped down by the end of qualifying and just out of the cut off but only by a fraction. He’ll be hungry for more in Leogang.



After the performance of the previous day, the team were excited to get back out on track for their race run. With the family and fans all rolling in under the arches it was soon becoming reality and tensions were brewing.



Hustling her way through the crowds in the pits, Manon made her way to the top of the hill for her race run. Fighting hard in the top section and coming into the first split a massive two seconds up, she entered the wooded section in good stead. Fate had another plan though and she punctured mid run - her first race run flat in several years! A true disappointment for her as she went into this round knowing she had what it took to seal the win.





With a promising time on the board from the day before, Matt was confident that he could convert it over on to his race run. Matt was able to lay down a very smart run and ticked off all the lines, he came down to the line and his position appeared a little off top pace. Reality was he was just the wrong side of the second as six riders shared 4:44 putting Matt into 15th place. World Cup racing gets closer every week!




Falling short in qualifiers but protected, Sam came down 22nd to last. Sambo was on a mission and like recent rounds, he has really developed late on in his run. A steady top section left him with plenty in the tank for the final stretch where he put down the fastest final sector of any rider on the day. Once the big man gets his wheels turning, there is no stopping him. Going straight into the hot seat, he sat tight as rider after rider couldn't touch his final split, until finally he was bumped just a little down the order, ending up with a fantastic 8th place, matching his Cairns results and walking away with another tidy top-10 World Cup result.




So, a mixed bag of results for the team after the promise of qualifying. That said, the team head on to Leogang in Austria capable of fighting for a podium place if all goes well.