22.11.2007

World Cup in June - make a date now

The one-off glory and hype of the World Championships may be over, but Fort William is not going to sit back, don slippers and take a big long rest with a good book. No, it’s going back into the World Cup circuit, invigorated and excited about long-term plans for 2008 through to 2012 when London hosts the Cross Country Olympic event.

The dates for the 2008 World Cup are confirmed on 6/8 June, so start planning now.

8.10.2007

Buy Merchandise

Visit our official merchandise store by clicking here.

8.10.2007

Sunday Mail Sports Awards - get your nominations in now

The Sunday Mail hosts an annual series of awards including Scottish Sporting Event of the Year and Scottish Junior Sports Person of the Year.

It would be great to see the World Championships and Ruaridh Cunningham short-listed (and winning), so if you think that Fort William and Ruaridh are worthy contenders then please complete the online nomination form.

www.sundaymailsportsawards.co.uk

8.10.2007

World Cup in June - make a date now

The one-off glory and hype of the World Championships may be over, but Fort William is not going to sit back, don slippers and take a big long rest with a good book. No, it’s going back into the World Cup circuit, invigorated and excited about long-term plans for 2008 through to 2012 when London hosts the Cross Country Olympic event.

The dates for the 2008 World Cup are confirmed on 7/8 June, so start planning now.

8.10.2007

British Team Success

19 World Champions were decided at Fort William, including Ruaridh Cunningham’s thrilling victory in front of 11,500 fans in the Men’s Junior Downhill.

There were medals for GB in all of the other Downhill events, with a bronze for Gee Atherton in the Elite Men, a silver for his sister Rachel in the Women's event, and a silver for Katy Curd in the Junior women.

Earlier in the week, Dave Fletcher had put in a storming performance in the Men’s Junior XC event, to open Britain’s medal score with a Bronze on the demanding Witch’s trail course.

The final British medal tally was 5, which put them 4th on the mountain bike medal table, behind France, Switzerland and the USA.

Unfortunately both downhill pre-race, home favourites, Steve Peat and Tracy Moseley had mechanicals (Steve lost his seat and Tracy broke a wheel) so there was no repeat of the wonderful double win moment that we all experienced at the 2005 World Cup.

Ruaridh Cunningham. Photo: Write Image

8.10.2007

Nissan - hard working partnership

Nissan, main sponsor of the Fort William World Championships did a lot more than just provide funding for the event. As well as a strong interactive presence in the Expo area and a satellite demo truck in Fort William’s High Street showing the day’s TV coverage, they organised the filming helicopter for the TV coverage (giving fantastic aerial shots of all the main events) and supplied 14 vehicles for the event team.

The vehicles were invaluable in preparation of all of the event infrastructure out on the forest roads and tracks surrounding the courses. Their busiest sessions were during the 4X whenall of the 4x4 X-Trails, Navaras and Pathfinders were used to shuttle the riders and bikes to the top of the course.

One of the Navaras also featured in the main artificial trials section outside the Nevis Range gondola station.

Photo: Write Image

17.09.2007

Buy Merchandise

Visit our official merchandise store by clicking here.

09.09.2007

Absalon and Kalentieva Romp Home

The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships at Fort William - powered by Nissan Sports Adventure - goes from strength to strength and the racing gets better and better, despite the widely varying weather... Read More

09.09.2007

Worlds Weekend Round Up

Spectators have already seen some fast and furious action since the Cross Country Team Relay and Tuesday's Opening Ceremony, with the majority of the Elite races taking place this weekend.  

A total of 19 World Championship titles are being contested during the event in the four disciplines Cross Country, Downhill, 4-Cross and Trials. ... Read More

08.09.2007

News from the Worlds ...

The return of wet and misty weather to Fort William saw Denmark take the men's Cross Country Under 23 World Championship title in a thrilling battle of nerve and stamina.

Swiss favourite Nino Schurter (SUI) picked up the silver medal in 1.55.48. The hotly fought contest between two Czech Republic riders was won by Jaroslav Kulhavy pipping fellow country man Jiri Friedl to the finish line by a mere four seconds in an exciting sprint finish... Read More

06.9.2007

Worlds Results Now Online.

Results and Press Releases are now available for download from the Media Pages of the Worlds Website. We will be updating these results and news updates regularly.

Visit the Media Page to download Results and Releases

10.8.2007

Big Ben's Big Top comes to the Party.

Fresh from their success with Rock Ness, the Highland’s top music promoters are bringing a new music venue to Fort William for the Worlds.

Located at the BA Club, on the outskirts of Fort William, Big Ben’s Big Top will provide DJs, bands and bars into the wee small hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

31.7.2007

Bike Route will be ready

For many years, a cycleway between Fort William and Torlundy (and then the World Cup Village) has been a dream – but in September it will be a reality. The A82 main road out of Fort William is not very bike friendly so the magnificent new cycleway, courtesy of the Scottish Executive, will mean that cycling to the Village is now a safe, attractive option.

31.7.2007

British Cycling Announces Selection to Worlds

The GB Team has announced its line-up for the 2007 Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships. Selection for all events were performance based and selections have been made in line with the criteria published earlier this year.

As can be seen from the list below, there are a few selection issues still to be resolved and British Cycling will update as further info becomes available. There will also be named reserves in some categories where the full allocation of 7 rider places has already been filled.

Cross-Country

Elite men - Oli Beckingsale, Ian Wilkinson
Under-23 Men* - Ian Bibby, Ross Creber
Under-23 Women - Amy Hunt
Junior Men* - Hamish Creber, David Fletcher, Alex Paton
Junior Women - Annie Last, Annabel Simpson, Amy Thompson
Relay - team to be announced pending confirmation from riders

* There may be further selections in these categories pending results of this weekend's Swiss Cup round.

Downhill

Elite Men - Dan Atherton, Gee Atherton, Marc Beaumont, Neil Donaghue, Brendan Fairclough, Steve Peat, Dan Stanbridge
Elite Women* - Rachel Atherton, Helen Gaskell, Fionn Griffiths, Tracy Moseley
Junior Men* - Josh Bryceland, Ruaridh Cunningham, Sam Dale, Chris Hutchens, Scott Mears, Joe Smith
Junior Women - Katy Curd

* There may be further selections in these categories pending results of the National Points Series event in Moelfre

4-Cross

Elite Men* - Dan Atherton, Gee Atherton, Scott Beaumont, Dale Holmes, Will Longden
Elite Women* - Joey Gough, Fionn Griffiths

* There may be further selections in both 4-Cross Categories, pending results of the National Championships

Trials

Chris Boyes, Andrei Burton, Daniel Butler, Alastair Clarkson, Chris Doney, James Hyland, Wayne Mahomet, Lois Morgan, Joe Oakley, Robert Poyser, Ben Savage, Duncan Shaw, Ben Slinger, Scott Wilson.

www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC

31.7.2007

Nissan UCI World Cup round up

The Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is over, bar the Finals in Maribor after the World Championships in Fort William. So, going into Fort William, here’s how the current form is looking – but remember the Worlds are different. It’s a special event with unique pressures and upsets are always possible. And don’t underestimate the home advantage!

In DH Sam Hill (AUS) leads in front of Steve Peat (GBR) with Britain’s Gee Atherton and Marc Beaumont in 6th and 7th respectively. In the top 20 another 6 Brits crowd the rankings, including Ruaridh Cunningham (18th) and Josh Bryceland (20) the two top ranked junior riders. Special mention also to Ireland’s Ben Reid in 14th place.

There was a collective groan from DH fans when Steve Peat stuck his foot in a bunch of tree roots at the recent Nationals, causing dislocation and a full-on plaster cast. The good news is that Peaty is pretty indestructible and there is no way he’s going to miss Fort William. He’s now in an AirCast and training hard. Some good news from Team Animal Commencal – Rachel Atherton who broke her elbow in the first DH of the season is back on her bike and should be OK for Fort William.

In the Women’s DH Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) leads Tracy Moseley (GBR) and Emmeline Ragot (FRA) with Fionn Griffiths and Helen Gaskell lying 8th and 9th.

The 4X gladiators have also been battling at the top with Brian Lopes well out in front and Gee Atherton (GBR) lying 4th and Scott Beaumont 7th. Jill Kintner (USA) continues to lead, pushed hard by Anneke Beerten (NED) and Britain’s Fionn Griffiths in 3rd.

In XC the British news is not so good with Liam Killeen having to pull out of the season and Oli Beckingsale also suffering in the later races. Julien Absalon (FRA) continues to dominate the men’s World Cup with Russia’s Irina Kalentyeva leading the women’s rankings. There will definitely be lots to cheer on the Witch’s Trail course in September with some strong British Junior and U-23 performances expected and a recovered Oli back on form.

For full Nissan UCI World Cup results go to:
www.nissan-ucimtbworldcup.com/index.cfm

16.7.2007

Peatys Plastered

As you all have probably heard, I had a little accident at the weekend and as I know how rumours spread I thought it was time to let you all know the real story..

I was at the British National champs at Rehola and had been practicing all day Saturday. I went up for my seeding run at 6pm and was on a good one, 4 seconds up on Marc Beaumont at the split, then I came into the infamous “Star Wars” section of the track. I slipped on a root coming into it and stuck my left foot out to take a steadying dab, but little did I know at that speed, there was a big hole that my foot went into and as soon as it touched the mud it popped straight out of its socket. I carried on with my crash knowing that when I stopped rolling around my foot would be in the wrong direction to the rest of my body. I let a few swear words out then crawled out of the mud pit to some drier land to wait for the Extreme Medic guys to come help.

First prognosis was that I had dislocated my ankle and fractured a bone, I was gutted all I could think about was Ft Bill and getting better for that race. Once we finally got me loaded in the Ambulance and got to the hospital they could assess it better. I was pretty out of it at this point, as I made them give me more Morphine, saying I was a big lad and needed a large dose. Thanks to Titleys friend for making a call, there was a doctor waiting for me at the entrance who took good care of me. He ended up opening my foot up so he could watch the bones and see that the dislocation had gone back in properly, it wasn’t until 2 days later when I came down from the Morphine that he explained what he had done. It turns out that he learnt something from me that night as he has never seen a foot dislocated before, it came out below my ankle bone which is apparently really rare. Anyway it went back in fine and I don’t have any fractures in my bones. They put me in a pot (cast to the other half of the World) and said to stay off it for 6 to 8 weeks, very conservative I thought, so once I have seen the specialist on Friday I will know a better recovery time.

I would like to thank Matt and Rich from Extreme Medical, very professional guys.

And I would also like to thank all the guys and girls that helped carry me out of a muddy forest, much appreciated everyone.

Cheers…………………………..Steve

16.7.2007

If you are travelling by car or bike please visit the World Champs Car Share & Bike BUDI Scheme operated by Liftshare. Car sharing will help save you money by sharing the travel costs and the amount of congestion on the roads

6.7.2007

Digger Heaven

The digger action continues at Nevis Range and the Leanachan forest. The new DH and 4X finish section, complete with spectator tunnel will open up the finish and add to the impressive look and feel of the finish. The curving rough rock embankment features run across the DH/4X finish jumps through to the new podium area. Beside the new spectator path to the 4X, Scottish Singletrack trail builder extraordinaire, Mark Hedderwick (Golspie Wildcat, Laggan Wolftrax, Leanachan Witch’s Trail) will be introducing some really technical sections to finish off the XC courseNow anyone can ride in a Nevis Range gondola with a previous Fort William World Cup winner – all of them will have their own gondola for the World Championships.

There’s also a new access to the main DH spectator footpath, extensions to the DH footpath giving easier access to most of the course and another tunnel for the XC riders to go under the 4X access road.

All these infrastructure changes and improvements have been possible thanks to the Forestry Commission (XC course) and Highland 2007 (all other improvements). Highland 2007 is the year long celebration of Highland culture and sport – the World Championships is one of the key vents within their year-long programme.

6.7.2007

Me and My Gondola

Now anyone can ride in a Nevis Range gondola with a previous Fort William World Cup winner – all of them will have their own gondola for the World Championships.

At the recent SDA event Steve Peat (World Cup winner in 2005) and Tracy Moseley (World Cup winner in 2002, 2005 and 2006) met up with their gondolas.

In the next few weeks there will be gondolas for Chris Kovarik (2002), Cedric Gracia (2003), Celine Gros (2003), Greg Minaar (2004), Anne Caroline Chausson (2004) and Sam Hill (2006).

6.7.2007

Team Red Bull Rampant

Red Bull have a long association with the Fort William World Cups and they’ll be back in force for the World Championships. Their team riders dominate the 4X, including UK riders Gee and Rachel Atherton, as well as reigning World Champion Michael Prokop and Nathan Rennie.

14.6.2007

Fort William No1 Yet Again. Best Mountain Bike Event 2006.

In recent IMTTO Membership Vote The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Fort William receives double points in voting process. At a meeting of the IMTTO –- the International Mountain Bike Teams, Technical Support Companies
and Organisers - in Champery, Switzerland, on Thursday 7 June 2007, the 2006 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Fort William was awarded the mountain bike event of the year for the second year running. The World Cup at Fort William outstaged thirty other international mountain bike events including Crankworx in Canada, the Sea Otter Classic, USA, and the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships in New Zealand.

Mike Jardine of Rare Management, organisers of Mountain Bike events at Fort William from 2002 to 2006, said: “Once again this is a huge testament to the entire team behind the whole Fort William mountain biking programme. It’s clear that the global mountain biking community respects the work that goes into the trail building, the professionalism of the organising staff and the rabid enthusiasm of the spectators – no matter what the weather conditions Fort William delivers. And in September we want to deliver the biggest and best World Championships ever.

6.6.2007

Worlds on Tour

Organisers of the Worlds will be taking the event on the road this summer to raise the profile of the first ever Mountain Bike World Championships to be staged in the UK and promote interest in the sport at all levels.

With a branded trailer pulled by the World Championships Nissan Navara and an enthusiastic and knowledgeable team, organisers will be visiting a number of events, mountain bike centres and city centre venues throughout the country in June, July and August.

Bike and outdoor enthusiasts will be able to find out more about the World Championships; watch extreme race footage from UCI Mountain Bike World Cup events at Fort William; buy exclusive Worlds merchandise (at selected venues only); enquire about travel and accommodation; find out how to ride the World Championships courses; pick up some on the spot giveaways; or just hang out and have a chat about mountain biking in Scotland over a coffee or a can of Red Bull.

Visitors to the trailer can also enter a competition to win holidays from cottages4you and a Carrera Banshee X mountain bike supplied by Halfords Bikehut, the UK’s biggest bike retailer.

Although the trailer was previewed at the Bike Show in Birmingham in April, the summer tour will kick off with a visit to the ‘10 Under The Ben’ mountain bike event at Fort William on 9 June.

Other events the promotional trailer will be visiting include the SDA Series Downhill Event, Fort William (16 &17 June), Mountain Mayhem, Ledbury (22 – 24 June), The Edinburgh Rat Race (14 & 15 July), Tulloch Inverness Highland Games (21 & 22 July) and the Merida Marathon, Selkirk (4 & 5 August). The Worlds team will also be visiting Glasgow andAberdeen city centres and selected Halfords Bikehut stores in Scotland.

5.6.2007

Going Underground

One of the big World Championships infrastructure projects funded by Highland 2007 (the year long celebration of Highland Culture) is the complete remodelling of the DH and 4X finish section.

 A new spectator tunnel under the final straight will improve access around the DH/4X and XC Finish arenas, there will be increased viewing and new features are being designed for the DH and 4X courses coming into the Finish.

DH boss Bob McFarlane and 4X designer Phil Saxena debated leaving a sizeable gap jump – but common sense prevailed and the tunnel was used after all.

The new finish section will be ready for the SDA DH and NPS 4X events on 16/17 June.

21.5.2007

Oli takes win in XC test event

Oli Beckingsale (Giant Racing) won the first event on the new Witch’s Trail World Championships course (Sunday 20 May).  Austria’s Michael Weiss (Biking Cyprus International) had led from the start but Britain’s Oli reeled him in on the final climb of the last lap, winning with a time of 1:52:10 for the 5 lap race.

“The course is really testing, with some really big climbs and I think it’s better than the old World Cup course” said Oli. For Michael Weiss it was a “real World Championships course."

Ivonne Kraft (GER, La Carrere BTS Travel) won the women’s Elite event ahead of Amy Hunt (GBR, Trek VW).

In total 260 riders competed in all of the categories and the general consensus is the course is shaping up really well, is very tough, and is much harder when you have to race it.

For results go to: http://www.sxc.org.uk/downloads

10.5.2007

DH track opens on 12 May

The new World Championships DH course will be open to the public from 12 May to 27 August inclusive. Apart from some special World Championships features, just for the Worlds week in September, this will be the same course as the stars will ride. If you are planning a visit, remember it is a full-on downhill, very tough and very long. It's a great chance to test yourself on one of the most demanding courses in the world.

XC test event 19-20 May

The first test of the new Forestry Commission World Championships course will be the SXC event on 19-20 May. The weekend will also see a one lap time trial that will be used by British Cycling in their team relay selection procedure. There has been a great deal of work by three different trail builders – Golspie Wildcat and Learnie Red Rock designer Mark Hedderwick who tackled the new swooping singletrack in two forest sections, Corrie Construction who tackled the major engineering works on the open hillside after the final climb and the Forestry’s own trails team who have done the rest of the works. The result is a mix of trail types and necessary riding styles that should make for an interesting and challenging course, where the rhythm is constantly changing.

10.5.2007

Crawfie sticks up World Trailer

Former top UK downhiller Crawford Carrick Anderson has been turning the Worlds exhibition trailer into a suitable billboard to travel the nation’s roads.

Crawfie has a vinyl signage business and rushed through the signwriting so that we could get the trailer to the Bike Show.

If you want any vinyl lettering, contact Crawfie at www.cca-signs.co.uk

10.5.2007

The bridge is up

The Forestry Commission stressed timber bridge is now in position – a beautiful, slender arch spanning the 20m gorge over the upper reaches of the River Lundy, at the top of the start climb. It is the missing link in the puggy line section of the new World Championships course.

9.5.2007

Nissan Sports Adventure taking mountain biking forward

Great news for mountain biking as Nissan reveal a 3 year partnership with the sport at both UCI World Cup and World Championships level. It’s been a few years since a major brand was so heavily committed to competitive mountain biking but with Nissan Sports Adventure backing, expect to see a far higher profile for the sport, the riders and the events throughout the World.

On a practical level, Nissan will be supplying all of the vehicles necessary to run the World Championships, including 4x4 transport for the 4X and course building in and around Nevis Range and the Leanachan forest.

We’ve already taken delivery of a World Championships branded Navara Outlaw that will be used to tow the Worlds exhibition trailer around the country this summer. It’s already clocked up trips to Birmingham and London pushing Worlds awareness to thousands of road users every journey.

26.4.2007

Trafalgar Square Hosts Mountain Bike Invasion

The Highlands of Scotland came to London today when ten of Britain’s leading mountain bikers descended on Trafalgar Square to promote the 2007 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships.

Local MP, the Rt Hon Charles Kennedy (MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber) below, joined event organisers and the athletes, to unveil some exciting news about a British sporting success story and one of the biggest participation sports in the UK.

The 2007 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships - powered by Nissan Sports Adventure – is not only the first ever mountain bike World Championships to be staged in the UK, it is also one of the highlights of Highland 2007 – the year Scotland celebrates Highland culture.

23.3.2007

And the winner is..

The 2006 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup recently won the SingleTrack readers Award for the best UK Mountain Bike event and the Scottish Sunday Mail Award for the best Scottish sporting event. Tracy Moseley, Stu Thomson and Chris Ball joined Mike Jardine and Lesley Beck from Rare Management at the dinner for the Scottish Sunday Mail award. Thanks to everyone who voted for Fort William. We hope there will be even more reason to vote for Fort William after September this year.

18.3.2007

Nissan becomes main sponsor of mountain biking

Nissan is the new global sponsor for both the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series and the UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships.

The three year deal is a testament to the importance of mountain biking in the growing freesport/adventure sector. Nissan will also be providing vehicles for the Fort William World Championships - an ideal testing ground for all of Nissan's famous 4x4 off-road capability.

The UCI and Nissan aim to develop mountain biking across all levels, particularly through the high profile World Championships and its global television audience.
UCI president Pat McQuaid underlined the importance of the agreement between the International Federation and Nissan.
“Mountain biking is a modern and dynamic discipline with an attractive image and enormous potential,” he said. “The interest shown by a company like Nissan confirms this. Thanks to the joint efforts of Nissan and the UCI, everyone associated with mountain biking will see fantastic progress in the years to come.”
Darren Cox (European Brand Promotion Manager): “Nissan has historically supported adventurous activity but now we are stepping up a gear and will really show the passion that we as a company hold for sports adventure and the environments in which they are held. Through a calendar of events, activities and content we hope to inspire adventure spirited people throughout Europe. Nissan becoming title sponsor for the World Cup and World Championships really demonstrates this.”
Mike Jardine from the World Championships Organising Team highlighted the importance of this major development. “Fort William has always been a fantastic showcase for mountain biking with its award winning World Cup. This year the World Championships will have to be an even bigger, better, more exciting week-long spectacle. To make it extra special we have been looking for a major partner and we believe we have found the perfect match with Nissan. They are a huge international brand that sees the global appeal of mountain biking and the appeal of the Worlds in Fort William. We look forward to working with Nissan to really push mountain biking as both a great participation sport and a great spectator sport”

www.nissan-europe.com

17.3.2007

The Bridge to nowhere heads to Leanachan

Regular visitors to Glentress might have noticed something different recently. The wonderful bridge to nowhere, elegantly sited above the Red Squirrell car park at the start of the first single track climb has gone.

The intriguing construction, spanning 14m, was designed and built by the Forestry Commission's Timber Engineering Department as an experiment in stressed timber construction techniques.

It is also the perfect fit for the new river crossing on the World Championships XC course in Leanachan at Fort William.

So it was recently craned onto a low loader for the drive north, where it sits waiting the ground works before it takes up it's new position over the Allt Daim joining the two sections of the "Puggy Line". The Puggy Line is the old railway line used in the construction of the dams for the Aluminium shelter in the 40's and 50's.

This will be an essential part of the new Leanachan trail network, both for the World Championships and for permanent public access.

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