Impending bad weather at Fort William meant today’s seeding runs counted as finals. Hart and Carpenter take the win!
Forecast high winds for Sunday and the risk of the gondola being closed meant that the finals were run today.
Danny Hart makes his early Ft Bill practice pay off taking the win even though he lost his chain near the bottom section!
Danny quote from the British Cycling repo: “That was a good run, the wind at the top of the course was crazy, I had to pedal in parts I’ve never had to pedal before. I went to get on the pedals near the bottom but there was nothing there, I’m not sure when the chain went.
I’ve been here most of the week so I feel pretty beat up, I’m tired and my legs have gone so I’m really happy to win. Losing the chain made winning more special as I had to roll it home and tuck in when I could.
Spending the last few days here helped today, I came here to prepare for the World Cup in a couple of weeks. My parents have been here with me, my mechanic has got the bike sorted so I’m ready to do better than last year. I was hoping I wasn’t cursed wearing the Rainbow jersey but after today I know it’s not and It will lead to bigger and better things.”
Halo BDS main man Si Paton said: “We knew from Thursday that Sunday’s weather was looking horrific, with severe weather warnings in place. Hence we e-mailed every racer on Thursday morning before 10:30am to inform them that seeding would be moved forward to Saturday afternoon.
At registration today we told riders to make sure seeding counted as it may well turn into their race runs. Nevis Range paid for a detailed weather report which forecasted a severe weather warning for Sunday, 1-2 inches of rain and a SW wind gusting up to 100mph.
After talks with all the major team managers, the UCI and British Cycling Commissaires aswell as Nevis Range I came to the decision to cancel Sundays event and run with seeding times as race runs. We therefore went straight to podiums after 18:00 allowing everyone to pack up safely in good weather.
It’s never an easy decision to call an event off, especially with the costs involved to the 350 attending racers and their eagerness to ride and race.
The decision was not taken lightly and overall riders, marshals and spectators safety is paramount to the Halo BDS organisation”.
Joe Barnes had his Orange 322 stolen, keep an eye out (check Facebook for the info)
Dan Stanbridge punctured.
More news/full results/ helmet camz/ chit chatz coming soon!
Elite Men:
1 Danny Hart (Giant Factory) 4.52.11
2 Marc Beaumont (Gt,One Ind/Atherton)
3 Matthew Simmonds (Chain Reaction/Nukeproof)
4 Remi Thirion (Labyrinth Shimano)
5 Josh Bryceland (Santa Cruz Syndicate)
Photo: Jason Carpenter/Facebook
Elite Women:
1 Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen) 5.31.18
2 Rachel Atherton (GT Factory Racing)
3 Jess Stone (Unior Tools Team)
4 Katy Curd ( Rose Vaujany Gravity)
5 Emma Wareham (Leisure Lakes Bikes)
Full results at Roots and Rain.
Random Facebook quotes:
Manon Carpenter: Second National and second win, mint!
Matt Simmonds: Big thanks to @CRCNukeProof, bike was working great along with the @SchwalbeUK rubber under her, ramping it up for a few weeks time #3rd
Rachel Atherton: Came 2nd today,stoked 2 be fair,probably shoulda gone thru the woods instead of around them but HeyHo Lets just Go Already!Thanks 4 cheering
Alex Bond:Pretty over doin wank now! Wheres the rope!ha.
Sam Dale: Not stoked on putting race runs in at 90% need to pull me finger out.
Will Soffe: I got a flat on the FIRST TURN! I was pretty stoked to only drop 1:44 – boy was that a wild ride!
David Cameron: Great day with Rebekah and Jeremy LOL
Adam Brayton: No excuses at Fort William… I was just shite!
Heather Gonzalez: My mum enjoying our weekend in Bath. A surprise for her 60th birthday!
Matti Lehikoinen: First time on a big track was bit of a struggle. #armpump #mph
Gentuza Malagueña: Diablo sobre ruedas…
Joe Smith: Finished 9th in fort William today, got a few things still to work on for world cups. Big old tumble up top in praccy #swellingarm
