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Throwback Thursday: Sam Hill's Legendary 2007 Fort William World Champs Winning Run

Aug 1, 2023 at 5:31
by Ed Spratt  

With the downhill World Champs back at Fort William this week after 16 years there has never been a better time to relive the classic rainbow jersey winning run from Sam Hill. Sam's win at the 2007 World Champs saw him take his second Elite World Champs title and his second in a row win at Fort William after he won by 1.26 seconds in 2006.

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Member since Mar 16, 2017
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51 Comments
  • 42 0
 Everyone scrabbling around in 2023 for moto foam last minute like fuuuuucck where do we tape it?
  • 3 2
 DH was better before
  • 1 1
 So funny Smile
  • 22 1
 After 2008 they (UCI) ban those tight lycras from DH Racing and we had a decade with MX wear but now it seems they all moved to Yoga Big Grin
  • 15 0
 Don't forget how far we have actually come with the broadcast- 75% of the course is missing from this run!
  • 1 0
 And almost only saw pedaling....
  • 11 1
 26" wheels and old school geometry didn't hold these guys and girls back much. Incredible talent.
  • 6 0
 Sam actually had a mad slack head angle on his bike, similar to what they run now.
  • 3 0
 @thingswelike: there is a lot to be said for real professionals. I don’t get why GCN/Discovery haven’t just grabbed a pro from Eurosport and matched them with an expert
  • 2 0
 Well that wasn’t meant to be posted here. . .
  • 2 0
 @bikes-arent-real: I assume a lot of the pros ran some form of head angle reducing headset during this era, or in some cases a custom front end, but even so the talent is undeniable
  • 2 0
 @samdaman1: It was custom at 62 degrees I think. And wide bars and flat pedals. That coupled with the Iron Horse being a great bike and an even greater rider on top of it lead to some pretty special things.
  • 1 0
 I'd love to see what a 2007 sam hill would do on a modern bike.

Amaury Pierron did a 4:37.115 last year, on a Fort Williams track with the slower middle tech sections that didn't exist yet on this older version of the track.
  • 6 0
 Ah the good ol' days. Fabien Barel took 2nd with +0.64s and with a broken foot if I remember correctly (he had a special carbon or reinforced or whatever sole in his shoe). Hill, Peat & Barel, damn that was the holy trinity of the mid 2000s
  • 3 0
 Peaty's seat feel off and I think Gee's pants feel down lol.
  • 2 0
 @bikes-arent-real: and from Wyn's track walk we were reminded that greg went OTB in the woods and dislocated his shoulder
  • 9 0
 Where did 16 years go
  • 6 0
 Ruaridh Cunningham won the juniors that year and the noise even for his run was immense.
  • 2 0
 On an Iron Horse no less.
  • 6 0
 Iron horse Sundays were so fun to ride
  • 4 0
 Moto foam in the rear and an inner tube for a mud guard
  • 8 0
 Jumpers for goal posts isn't it.
  • 3 0
 @andypandyuk: marvellous, mmm.
  • 1 0
 I’ve ran inner tube mudguards on back of the bike since 2007. Simple solution to a common problem.
  • 2 0
 Typical garbage UCI coverage. 30 seconds at the top and then a minute of pedalling at the bottom out of a 4+ minute run.
  • 2 0
 The year I first started mountain biking! I remembe wanting an iron horse 7 point soooo bad
  • 1 0
 I still have an Iron Horse that rips. I only upgraded earlier this year.. hahah. Those were before their time
  • 5 4
 2007, the humanity was discovering the fire, and the broadcast was better than this year!!
  • 9 0
 I hate Disovery as much as the next guy, but this was pretty terrible as well. Great nostalgia, anyhow
  • 7 0
 The stream this year is 1000x better than this
  • 5 2
 @bikesandfun: the commentary isnt though
  • 1 0
 That stream is crap, 2008 at Val di Sole was very good. Free caster had a few good years there, then it went to redbull and wasn't great at the start but then got better.
  • 1 0
 My main memory is stumbling back to our van through the forest in total darkness after the 4X. Great fun
  • 3 2
 Sam may not be the tallest of a rider, but boy does the Sunday look like a BMX bike.
  • 5 1
 It looked like it fitted him well tbh.
  • 1 0
 To answer the question in the promo: Yes - Sam Hill, an Iron Horse Sunday and Val di Sole Razz
  • 1 0
 Those clothes are way to tight to be from 07, what was happening with that?
  • 1 0
 Imagine how good you have to be to ride a 26" bike that fast with flat pedals on Fort William.
Think about that.
  • 1 0
 Let's not forget this epic run from Sam

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmvDk8fcheI&t=495s
  • 1 0
 “Those commentators are awful, where is Rob?“
  • 1 0
 shame on commentary
  • 1 0
 BBC though, so a given.
  • 4 0
 That is Hugh Porter, who I believe still commentates track & road cycling for the Beeb. He is a legend, although so is Rob Warner and I know which one I prefer for MTB (hint: it isn't Mr Porter)
  • 1 1
 I was there, it was awesome. It wasn't as loud as 2005 though.
  • 1 0
 Awesome run Sam!
  • 1 1
 Wild how much gnarlier dh has become. Course looks tame in comparison.
  • 1 0
 Yes and no, val di sole hasn’t changed all that much since then, and yet the bikes back were then were far less stable and had much smaller wheels, so in a way some tracks were gnarlier back then I guess? But then again the greater stability of modern bikes means they go way faster which does somewhat negate this theory
  • 3 6
 still remember watching it live on freecaster
  • 19 0
 I'm not sure you do. Freecaster didn't start showing events until 2008.
  • 3 0
 I remember watching it on BBC and thinking that Hugh did a pretty good job considering it's not his forte. I'd been at the cyclocross uk champs that year and he did the commentary for that and was absolutely superb. He has that BBC sense of gravitas that it's hard for the non-pros to replicate. It was good that he had Pagey for backup at times though.
  • 1 1
 there is a lot to be said for real professionals. I don’t get why GCN/Discovery haven’t just grabbed a pro from Eurosport and matched them with an expert







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