Brits land home-course world championships win at Fort William
A wet and wild day in Scoland
Photo by:
Charlie Hatton. Photo: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
The downhill events at “super worlds” were super soaked by the end of Saturday’s elite men’s racing, adding drama to the already tough course.
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The Brits are more familiar with riding in rain than most and took full advantage. Charlie Hatton gave the home crowd a win in the elite men’s race. The Atherton racer was joined on the podium by Laurie Greenland (Syndicate), though with Austria’s Andreas Kolb breaking up the Brits by taking second place. Hatton and Kolb also give Atherton Racing a 1-2 finish in the elite men’s race, a major accomplishment for the British team.
After sweeping the elite men’s podium last year in Les Gets, the French men were denied a podium spot entirely in Fort Bill. Loic Bruni, the defending world champ, was the top French finisher in fourth.
Forrest Riesco earned Canada’s best result on Saturday. The Sunshine Coast racer finished 21st in Fort William. Mark Wallace followed a second later in 25th. Kirk McDowall squeezed into the top 30 with a 29th-place finish. Jake Jewett placed 34th, and Anthony Poulson 64th. Finishing off a rough weekend he’ll likely want to put behind him quickly, Finn Iles finished 73rd with a flat tire in his finals run.
Höll doubles up in Fort William
On the women’s side, a trio of continental Europeans denied the host country a spot on Saturday’s elite podiums.
In an impressive showing of strength and determination, Rachel Atherton returned to the start line even after dislocating her shoulder in practice earlier in the week. The six-time world champion rode to eighth in the elite women’s race. Tahnée Seagrave, also working through the pain of a heavy crash before finals, battled to sixth.
On the podium, though, it was all about young Austrian Valentina Höll. The defending world champion stormed to her second-straight elite women’s title by a solid winning margin of 2.020 seconds. Camille Balanche, 2021 world champion, was the closest rider to the flying Austrian. Balanche earned silver just 0.341 seconds ahead of France’s Marine Cabirou.
Gracy Hemstreet takes the top Canadian spot, finishing 16th in her first elite world championships. Emmy Lan, current U21 enduro World Cup leader, was the next fastest Canuck in the elite women’s race. The Vancouver Island racer finished with the 21st fastest time.
For mountain bikers, UCI “super worlds” racing now shifts to cross country events. The XC Marathon is first up in Glentress Forest on Sunday, Aug. 6.
