Video: Up to Speed with Ben Cathro - Everything You Need to Know Ahead of the Fort William DH World Cup 2024

Coming in hot off two incredible Brazilian rounds of XC racing, Fort William provides the backdrop for the opening round of the 2024 Downhill World Cup series with riders raring to get between the tape and test out their off-season training. Here is everything you need to know ahead of the 2024 DH World Cup opening weekend.

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Race Briefing

After hosting last year’s World Championships, Fort William returns in 2024 to mark the opening round of the 2024 season. As a mainstay of the World Cup series since 2002, the classic Scottish track is back in its usual May spot ready to catch out any riders who may not have done quite enough training with its brutal rocks and energy-draining four-minutes plus runtime.

There has been plenty of action happening off the track as this year’s silly season brought an abundance of team changes including some big moves from Vali Höll, Greg Minnaar and Aaron Gwin. In a very late team switch, we have recently seen Ollie Davis take the place of an injured Jackson Goldstone, moving from his previously new signing Commencal Schwalbe to the Syndicate.

Following the team moves, the early months of 2024 have seen some of the best riders already test themselves against the clock with Ronan Dunne and Gracey Hemstreet impressing at Hardline Tasmania while Lachlan Stevens McNab picked up a string of top results across New Zealand. Marine Cabirou, Ethan Craik, Benoit Coulanges and Camille Balanche have also picked up some strong results at national events in the build-up to Fort William.

Sadly, not everyone’s start to 2024 has been successful with several riders either still dealing with injuries or picking up new ones in their season preparations. Myriam Nicole is facing an uncertain start to the 2024 season after a thumb ligament injury and this year’s big Junior talent Asa Vermette fractured his hip at the Tennessee National. Jackson Goldstone will also be sitting out racing for a while as he faces recovery after a serious knee injury from his Hardline Tasmania crash.

We hope that helps get you prepped for this weekend's racing and keep scrolling to gather more details to get you ready for the first round of DH racing at Fort William.

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Who Won the 2023 Overall?


The battle for the 2023 overall titles showcased some of the best racing we have seen in years as we witnessed a dominant Vali Höll sweep the elite women’s field and the nail-biting conclusion to the men’s series at Mont-Sainte-Anne. With the scores wiped for 2024, who will come out ahead after round one this weekend?

Elite Women:

1st. Vali Höll: 2422
2nd. Nina Hoffmann: 1913
3rd. Marine Cabirou: 1734
4th. Monika Hrastnik: 1276
5th. Camille Balanche: 1020

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Elite Men:

1st. Loic Bruni: 1698
2nd. Jackson Goldstone: 1616
3rd. Loris Vergier: 1533
4th. Finn Iles: 1366
5th. Andreas Kolb: 1357

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What's the Track Like?

Luke Meier-Smith's course preview from the 2023 World Championships

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When and What Racing is Happening this Weekend?


The schedule provides non-stop action and with the always tough Fort William course, riders have a tough week of racing to open the 2024 season. Here is a look at what you can expect to find happening this weekend.

All times BST

Friday, May 3
• 08:30-10:30 // Training - Group B
• 10:30-12:30 // Training - Group A
• 12:30-14:30 // Training - Group B (Timed Session)
• 14:30-16:30 // Training - Group A (Timed Session)

Saturday, May 4
• 08:30-10:00 // Training - Group B
• 10:00-11:30 // Training - Group A
• 12:00 // Qualifying - Women
• 12:30 // Qualifying - Men
• 14:00 // Qualifying - Junior Women
• 14:15 // Qualifying - Junior Men
• 15:00 // Semi-Final - Women
• 15:30 // Semi-Final - Men

Sunday, May 5
• 09:00-10:00 // Training - Qualified Juniors
• 10:00-11:00 // Training - Qualified Elites
• 11:30 // Finals - Junior Women
• 12:00 // Finals - Junior Men
• 13:15 // Finals - Women
• 14:00 // Finals - Men

Note: All times are local and subject to change by the UCI/event organizer.

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What's the Weather Expected to be?

For the opening round of the 2024 season, we are in for a mostly dry week of weather with the current forecast only predicting rain for the track walk on Thursday.

Thursday, May 2

A couple of showers in the morning; otherwise, mainly cloudy // 19°C // 60% probability of precipitation // wind 9km/h

Friday, May 3

Partly sunny and nice // 20°C // 6% probability of precipitation // wind 9km/h

Saturday, May 4

Partly sunny // 17°C // 1% probability of precipitation // wind 9km/h

Sunday, May 5

Mostly cloudy // 19°C // 16% probability of precipitation // wind 9km/h


Weather forecast as of Sunday, April 28 from Accuweather.

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Previous Winners

Note, * denotes a race which was a World Championship.

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What Happened Last Time at Fort William?

Fort William never disappoints as once again the legendary race venue proved why it has been a big part of the downhill racing calendar since 2002.

The Junior Women's race saw a domination of the medal positions by New Zealand riders as they picked up 1st, 2nd and 3rd with fastest qualifier Erice Van Leuven taking the top spot. For the Junior Men it was the UK and French riders who looked strong initially but as the final riders made their way down it was Henri Kiefer and Bodhi Kuhn who took control of the race. Henri Kiefer stormed his way down the hill to take the hot seat with one rider remaining and while Bodhi Kuhn challenged the new World Champion the final split would knock him 0.4 seconds back.

In the Elite Women's race, the British riders kicked things off with some stellar runs as Tahnee Seagrave took the hot seat before Louise Ferguson, Phoebe Gale and Rachel Atherton made it four UK racers in the top five with just 10 riders left at the top. Marine Cabirou was the first to break up the British racers as she took the lead by seven seconds. Marine's time would tumble as Camille Balanche was after another World title, she led by only 0.3 seconds with two more riders left.

A rear wheel slide-out ended Germany's chances of another rainbow jersey this week as Nina Hoffmann couldn't complete a clean run in finals. With just Vali Höll remaining, we were guaranteed a repeat World Champion and the Austrian rider delivered a smooth and controlled run to come out on top by two seconds.

After the Women's racing Fort William brought the drama for the Men's title race as the rain picked up and quickly soaked the course making things extra challenging for most of the field. Greg Williamson and Angel Suarez were the early favourites as they came down looking fast and stayed at the front for over 20 riders. Charlie Hatton was the first to beat these two riders and remained unbeaten against some tough challengers. Only Charlie's teammate Andreas Kolb could come within one second of the British rider's time as he ended the day with the silver medal and 0.599 seconds back. Laurie Greenland secured another medal for the British team leaving Fort William with 3rd place. 2022 World Champion Loic Bruni couldn't back up his top qualifying run and just missed the medals in 4th.

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Pinkbike Downhill Fantasy League


It's back! After a short hiatus in 2023, we’re excited that Pinkbike's DH Fantasy League is back for 2024, presented by the good people at Five Ten.

With a fictional budget of $1.5 million you will choose your ultimate team of 6 riders (4 men, 2 women) and go to battle in the Pinkbike's DH Fantasy League. Show off your skills in choosing the best riders for all 7 rounds of the 2024 UCI World Cup, plus the 2024 UCI World Championships, and your team will score points based on how your riders performed.

Points will be given out based on the position of the Elite men and women in finals at the end of the week. To maximize your chances to win the Grand Prize, we recommend you have your team created by the time Qualifying starts for the first round. After qualifying starts we will be shutting off team edits until the points are added after round one.

A big change for this year is dynamic rider pricing. Riders’ salaries will start the season based on their historical results and some insider insights, but those salaries will get updated after each round. Riders who are having a good season will rise in price over time, and riders who are struggling will drop in price.

If you haven't already, you can create your team ready for round one here.

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How to Follow the Racing?

Tune in to Pinkbike to catch all the first-round Fort William coverage throughout the week with results, photo epics, bike checks, race analysis and more.

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NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Purchase will not increase your chances of winning. The Contest begins on 18 March 2024 at 09:00:01 a.m. PDT and ends on October 6, 2024 at 11:59 PM PDT. Anyone can participate in the Pinkbike Fantasy Downhill League Game but the The Pinkbike Fantasy Downhill League Contest whereby participants can win prizes (“Contest”) is open only to legal residents of Australia, Canada (except the Province of Québec), Germany, United Kingdom, and 50 United States and DC who are 18 years of age or older and the age of majority in theirjurisdiction of residence. The Contest begins on 18 March 2024 at 09:00:01 a.m. PDT and ends on 6 October 2024 at 11:59:59 PM PDT. *5,000 USD cash portion of the grand prize will be awarded in a form of a check if the winner is from US or Canada; and will be awarded as a bank wire transfer if the winner is from Australia, Germany or UK.

Winners outside of the United States will receive the cash prize in their local currency as of the date of prize award according the current foreign exchange rate. If the Grand Prize winner is from Australia, Canada, Germany or the UK, s/he will have to provide their bank wire transfer information at a duly licensed financial institution in order to receive the Grand Prize. See Official Rules for full details on eligibility requirements, how to play, and prize description. Void in Province of Quebec and where prohibited. Sponsor: Outside Interactive.