Finals Photo Epic: All To Play For - Fort William DH World Cup 2019
Photo Epic presented by Five Ten
Every year we come to Fort William and every year we are dished up a weekend full of twists and turns. One of the classic venues on the circuit and one of the tracks that bites back the hardest should you stray onto the wrong side of it, any rider who tames it is thrust into downhill immortality. This is easier said than done.
A scan of the forecast at any point this week painted only one picture, and it was of a particularly bleak one... We'd dodged a few weather bullets in recent years but this year we were hit by every single one. The moisture was only a trivial tribulation in comparison to what befell Tahnee Seagrave on her first practice run - the World Cup leader would crash hard, tearing her AC joint in the process and leaving her to sit on the sidelines and watch the number 1 slip from her grasp. She wasn't the only one to be chewed up by the granite boulders this weekend with names like Bruni, Hrastnik, Brayton, Iles, and Atherton all taking heavy hits.
The season opener in Maribor was a rough ride for several of the big hitters who'd look to hit the reset button in Fort Bill and start afresh. Rachel Atherton had a messy qualifying run which sat her back into the pack a little but come race day she'd got it dialed and laid her claim for the win, going into the hot seat with a sizeable margin. It looked like an ominous time for the rest of the girls at the top to match, none came close until fastest qualifier Tracey Hannah began setting the timing screens alight in the middle of the track. She'd eventually drift 1 and a half seconds back but it was a valiant effort nonetheless do try and dethrone the Queen of Fort Bill. The podium was rounded off by Nina Hoffmann, Marine Cabirou, and Veronika Widmann, the German taking her first podium in fine style.
The men's field was tightly bunched throughout, riders would come and go from the hot seat as the fastest time of the day got chipped away at. That was until Brosnan and subsequently Pierron, absolutely dismantled the previous benchmark, Amaury taking his insurmountable advantage to a monstrous 3 and a half seconds over Troy. Fastest qualifier Loris Vergier was pipped to second by less than a tenth of second, fine margins after 4 and a half minutes of racing. Finn Iles and Danny Hart rounded off the podium spots whilst Minnaar had to settle for sixth. After a topsy turvy opening two races, the leader's jersey changes hands in both the guys and girls, Atherton in place of Seagrave and Brosnan in place of Bruni.
One of the biggest shocks of the day came in the junior women as Vali Holl's reign came to a crashing end as American Anna Newkirk picked up her maiden World Cup win and now leads the series to boot. Thibaut Daprela took another win but was kept honest by two WC debutants, the UK's Luke Mumford in second and Canada's Patrick Laffey in third. Watch out for both of them in the remainder of the season.
Classic conditions for a day of racing on a classic track
The dormant ski lifts lining the hillside of Aonach Mòr.
Timing chips ready to be dished out.
Cold temps, rain, and high winds had all the junior men running for the same cover to get their warmups in at the top of the hill.
Vali Holl trying to stay dry during her warm up as the cold rains began to pour down outside.
The last few moments before Anna Newkirk's maiden World Cup winning run.
Vali Holl powering out the start gate but it wasn't to be today for the Austrian, her winning streak comes to an end in Fort William.
Mille Johnset once again 3rd in the junior women's race.
In his very first World Cup Luke Mumford finished less than a second off the win in 2nd place.
USA junior, Anna Newkirk, crushing it out in the slop to take her first ever WC victory.
Patrick Laffey earned his first Junior World Cup podium just two rounds in. Third place for the Canadian.
Daprela warping over white water.
Just in case you were wondering how wet it was out there.
Marine Cabirou trucking on towards her second podium of the season.
Tracey Hannah took two of the splits and lost out on the win by only 1.6 seconds.
No amount of rain and wind can dampen the spirits of the Fort William fans.
Rain all night and on and off all day meant the track in Fort William was wet and wild once again today.
Nina Hoffmann over the final drop and into a 3rd place finish.
Veronika Widmann back in the mix and making her first podium appearance of 2019.
A tight battle between Rachel Atherton and Tracey Hannah over the whole length of the track kept people guessing to the very end. It was Rach who'd seize the advantage in the final sectors of the track.
An ecstatic Nina Hoffmann celebrating her first ever podium appearance at a World Cup.
Tracey Hannah crossed the line in second to Rachel. Yesterday's fastest qualifier was oh so close to that top spot.
Rachel showing off her Atherton sled. Well done here at the Fort.
What a weekend in the Scottish Highlands it has been. As if this track wasn't tough enough already.
Witness the wetness. It's been moist even by Scottish standards.
The rains may have come in hard but keen fans were rewarded with a top-draw show from the World's finest.
Puts a hole in hand in practice. Hand swells overnight. Throws massive whips in practice and smashes out a 20th place. Kade Edwards is an animal.
Bernard Kerr missed out on the top 10, just pipped by teammate Ed Masters.
Greg Williamson back up where he should be, a solid 12th place to build on for the rest of the season.
David Trummer backed up his strong start to the season in 14th.
13th and finding some consistency for Dakotah Norton who is still coming back to form after off-season shoulder surgery.
It looked like Matt Walker might take his second podium in a row but he was pushed back to 7th in the end. I'm sure he'll be quietly content with that given a crash on this very track a few weeks prior left him in hospital.
Eddie Masters plunging towards the finish line and into 10th place.
Greg Minnaar will be dropping numbers on his plate after today's run. Sixth place for the legend.
Iles in the zone, as he's been all weekend. It was all green lights for him when the clock was ticking.
Special visit by the Redbull Matadors to kick off the festivities.
The rain was on and off today for Elite finals but not enough to change the already saturated track conditions. Tear-offs were essential.
What a weekend for Aaron Gwin. After 2 practice laps in the morning rain, his World Cup came to an end in explosive fashion not far out the gate in finals. Luck seems simply not to be on his side at this point.
After a massive crash on Saturday, Finn Iles rebounded to fight his way onto the podium in 5th.
Brook MacDonald climbed steadily up the rankings through the splits for a top 10 and upgraded plate headed to Austria.
A snapped chain off the start spelled bad luck for Reece Wilson. A crash in the woods left him battered and sore at race end.
Danny Hart hit the podium again to make it 2 from 2.
Loic Bruni took the hot seat but only briefly. It's amazing he could perform so well after the battering his body took over the weekend.
Troy Brosnan dug deep down the final minute of the track to make time on his rivals, but would still fall just over two seconds short of the win.
A bruised and battered Loic Bruni watching his countrymen Amaury Pierron and Loris Vergier climb not the podium.
Close, but no cigar for the last man down.
Loris Vergier was on the top of his game out here, but in the end third would have to do.
Amaury Pierron took his first ever World Cup win here last year and wanted to remind everyone that he's still king of the Fort. Message sent and received.
That's more like it. That could well be one of Amaury Pierron's finest wins yet.
Troy Brosnan on the hunt. He's won here previously and he almost had this one, edging out Finn Iles and into second place.
Your top 3 junior women. 1st Anna Newkirk 2nd Vali Holl 3rd Millie Johnset
Junior Men's Podium.
Rachel Atherton takes top honors in Fort William to give Atherton bikes its first ever WC victory.
Rachel Atherton imbibes just one more bottle of Scottish champers.
Pierron addressing the crowd.
Your top 5 Elite Men. 1st Amaury Pierron 2nd Troy Brosnan 3rd Loris Vergier 4th Finn Iles 5th Danny Hart
Amaury Pierron takes two in a row in Fort William.
Just about how everyone will remember Fort William 2019.
MENTIONS: @natedh9 @davetrumpore @mdelorme @andy9 @rossbellphoto @FiveTen
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71 Comments
That´s epic.
youtu.be/f_72HiAxpGk
What makes me sad is that seeing a stock linkage on any race bike is a rarity - most riders run more progressive links to fine tune suspension - and they fine tune shocks to get along that. You as a pure mortal have no way to do that, despite buying the same thing. Now surely mortals/bikepark riders do not ride as hard as WC racers and perhaps WC race setup is not something anyone of us could handle well, but there is plenty of national level racers who want to break trough and get gud. At least those few should have options to go hard.
This rule would stop small companies to experiment with new technology. I think if you are talented enough and have the ability to ride like a pro you will also find somebody who fine tunes your suspension and make custom linkages
Given the speed of the pros and the crashes they are likely to suffer in practice and in the races, I'd call that a minimalist kit, even though I think it's not uncommon.
"Leave nothing but tyre treads, take nothing but memories ...and a thick coating of liquid loam all over bike and riding kit" - Some dude on the internet
How is Gwin doing? Any injuries?
Thanks