Fort William World Cup Downhill Friday Practice Slideshow

View as: Slideshow | One Page
<b>Welcome to the 3rd round of the 2014 UCI World Cup. The secrets to being the fastest downhiller this weekend at Fort William are found in the fog below.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Sam Hill has been in the UK since the National round here. Riding bikes of all sizes around the welsh countryside, he's used to the conditions.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Andrew Neethling spent a few days in hospital this week after hanging with Brendan and suffering an innocent accident.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Steve Peat giving @maddogboris a "shit" tattoo. @steelcitymedia has the full scoop. #instawars</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Having fun is a big part of doing well for Josh Bryceland, big whips kept the small practice crowds entertained.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Eliot Jackson hucks to flat up top this morning. It's in his contract.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Back on a brand new steed and getting up to race pace. Stevie Smith has only one goal and that is to win.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Black, white and hint of color. </b> -Sven Martin
<b>Number 1, on a mission.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Connor Fearon looked on it for a solid result in Cairns, but a crash in his race run resulted in more stitches that World Cup points.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Loose Loris, not to be outdone by stylish teammates Blenki and Loic, gets sideways this morning.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>The man-made surface of the track is necessary when the rest of the hill is a bog.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Danny Hart looking to hold onto the air this weekend compared to the recent BDS where he qualified 1st then flatted.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Golden hour and the stadium is empty. The days are long here in Scotland which is a good thing as we're set to start at 6:30am tomorrow as Will Longden explains.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>It's a full house this weekend in the Atherton Pits. 5 racers and a staff of 10 this weekend to keep the Atherton machine well-oiled and firing. Marc Maurissen in audio.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Ragot is hot. 49-degrees C to be precise.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Gee Atherton has won the last two races held here at Fort William and they say good things come in threes.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Rachel Atherton hasn't been on the DH bike since Australia. Will she be able to defend her title her from the storming Carpenter and Ragot?</b> -Sven Martin
<b>You can always count on Scott Mears to spice up B practice, sending it into the mist.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Neil Stewart doing his best Stewart brothers impersonation through the arch on his very first run this morning. </b> -Sven Martin
<b>Fort William is a big track, exposed to the elements up top.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Taylor Vernon dodging my dirty sensor dust courtesy of EWS Tweedlove. </b> -Sven Martin
<b>Myriam Nicole. Brilliant.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Wyn Masters, "peak"-a-boo. </b> -Sven Martin
<b>Blenki still using telemetry on the old frame, collecting data off the Fort Bill track to fine tune things for next year.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Double pans and zooms. "You get Loic, I'll get Blenki." Joe Bowman and Mono Bartlett know the drill.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>!</b>
<b>In contrast to his usual fly-on-the-wall style of journalism, Sven tries a frog-on-a-300.</b> -@maddogboris
<b>Laurie Greenland may be the shortest guy on 650b wheels, but that doesn't stop him from looking like one of the fastest!</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Mick Hannah on the way down after his AC-separating crash.</b> -@maddogboris
<b>Loic puts his First Ride Schwalbe tires to their limits on the loose-over-hardpack surface.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Low-lying clouds offered a different perspective of Fort William in the early part of the day.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Then with a little swing in the weather, there wasn't a low-lying cloud in sight.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>The Madison Saracen team is becoming an ever-competitive force on the World Cup DH circuit. Matt Simmonds did well here with a podium finish at the last British Downhill series and looks to back up the result.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>The Jorba brothers ascend deeper into the cloud before dropping into their first World Cup of the year.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Sam Dale's been surprising us with results at Cairns and PMB. With his solid track record here at Fort William we're expecting even greater things.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Full of confidence after strong results at Ae Forest, Mike Jones is looking to attack the course wherever he can.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Brook MacDonald has a good track history here a Fort William and he's hoping to capitalize on it.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Brilliant sunshine and hints of blue sky shine on the Number 1 plate.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Ben Nevis, still tipped with snow at the end of a surprisingly brilliant day.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>The campers are rocking up as the crowds gather for the UK's premier MTB race event. We'll be out bright and early to bring you the action from qualifying!</b> -Duncan Philpott
Intro Graphic
day2intro
Description
The 3rd round of the 2014 UCI World Cup Downhill opened up with riders training on the infamous Fort William, Scotland course. The bog-filled mountain in the Ben Nevis range requires a "man-made" course that, while maintained, is revered for being one of the roughest and most demanding on the circuit. Clouds shrouded the mountainside early but the winds shifted and the sun shined down as the world's fastest mountain bikers learned their lines and prepared for race day.

Enjoy the visual stories and rider interviews from Sven Martin and Duncan Philpott.


View Fort William PIT BITS



Watch Vital RAW from Friday Practice



Win a SRAM X01 DH Kit with Vital OTB



Forum: All Things Fort William World Cup



2 comments

View replies to: Fort William World Cup Downhill Friday Practice Slideshow

Comments

The Latest