What a weekend it has been for competitors up in the Scottish Highlands at British Downhill Series (aka British Cycling MTB Downhill Series – doesn’t quite have the same twang), as the heavens opened, an unearthly wind swept in and temperatures plummeted.
After a stunning early week in the Fort, things began to turn ugly on Friday. The lift and track was open in the daytime but overnight and through Saturday things were so dire that the gondola had to remain closed.
With little improvement today, uplift was declared as an impossibility and the organisers and officials decided to run the race from the wallride – which is basically at the end of the ‘classic’ Fort William course brutality and the beginning of the flatter lower slopes – with the only option to push up. Not ideal, especially for those who had literally travelled across the world for the event, but that’s the unpredictability of British weather for you.
The ‘Short Course’ race went ahead and your top finishers are as follows:
Men Elite
1: Gee Atherton
2: Sam Dale
3: Harry Heath
4: Josh Bryceland
5: Rémi Thirion
6: Loic Bruni
7: Matthew Simmonds
8: Greg Williamson
9: Ruaridh Cunningham
10: Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas
Women Elite
1: Rachel Atherton
2: Tahnée Seagrave
3: Manon Carpenter
4: Katy Curd
5: Emilie Siegenthaler
6: Morgane Charre
7: Suzanne Lacey
8: Jessica Greaves
FULL ELITE FEMALE RESULTS HERE
Junior Men
1: Brad Swinbank
2: Jacob Dickson
3: Charlie Hatton
Junior Women
1: Sacha Bickerstaff
2: Elena Melton
3: Rona Strivens
Senior Men
1: Matthew Cooper
2: Daniel Tay
3: Luke Cockburn
Expert Men
1: Kenta Gallagher
2: Shaun Richards
3: Leon Rosser
Youth
1: Matt Walker
2: Jack Tennyson
3: Kade Edwards
Juvenile
1: Jamie Edmonson
2: Finlay Watt
3: Morgan Tyrrell
Masters
1: Kye Forte
2: Adam Smith
3: David List
Veteran Men
1: Mark Weightman
2: Steven Boyd
3: Ben Greenland
Grand Veteran Men
1: Alastair Maclennan
2: Steven Felstead
3: Michael Waud
