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Fort William semi-finals: Iles sits second in razor-thin finish

Canadian juniors thrive in Scotland

Photo by: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
May 4, 2024
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Semi-finals are done and almost dusted. Rain arrived between qualification and semi-finals to rerturn Fort William to its natural, soggy state. Dry conditions all week made for fast and tight racing, even with some afternoon rain, with less than one tenth of a second separating the top three elite men’s times.

Two elite Canadians are through to Sunday’s finals. They’ll be joined by another five Canucks in junior men’s finals. Unlike the absent live-feed of semi’s, finals are still scheduled to be broadcast live on, in Canada, FloBikes.

Elite men: Iles among trio too close to call favourites

Finn Iles (Specialized) earned a second second-fastest time on Saturday, but behind a different rider. After Loic Bruni (Specialized) set the fastest qualifying time, it was Troy Brosnan (Canyon Cllctv) SpeedSuiting his way to the fastest finish in semi-finals. Bruni was third, but there’s really no calling favourites for Sunday’s final. Just 0.071 seconds separated the top three men after 4:14 of racing. That’s wildly close for one of the longest and most physically demanding tracks on the World Cup circuit.

In more good news for Canadian fans, Bodhi Kuhn (Trek Factory Racing) is looking exceptionally comfortable in his elite debut. After squeaking through qualifications in the 50s, Kuhn jumped up over 30 places to finish with the 20th fastest semi-final time. That gets the Rossland, B.C. racer through to finals in his first elite World Cup. Impressive stuff.

While Canadian national champ Lucas Cruz was injured earlier Saturday, Norco will be represented in the finals. Greg Minnaar just sneaks through below the 30-rider cut-off with a 29th place in semi-finals.

Gracey Hemstreet races Fort William World Cup
Gracey Hemstreet starts her season with a semi, but no final. Photo: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

Elite women: Höll starts hauling

Valentina Höll (YT Mob) appears to be lifting her pace as the weekend moves on. After a quiet qualification run, the young Austrian set the fastest time in semi-finals. Tahnée Seagrave (Canyon Cllctv) stayed closest, finishing second 2.355 seconds back. Camille Balanche (Dorval AM) and Nina Hoffmann (Syndicate) are third and fourth ranked going into Sunday’s finals.

Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Race Division) finishes 15th in semi-finals, ending her Fort William weekend.

Juniors: Quintet of Canucks on to finals

The junior racers go straight from qualifying to their final races, no semi-final involved. Five Canadians are through to finals, all on the men’s side. Ryan Griffith (Pivot Factory Racing0 led the charge, qualifying eighth behind Daniel Parfitt (BNC Racing). Max Alran (Commencal) and the U.S.A.’s Asa Vermette (Frameworks) followed with the second and third fastest junior times Saturday.

Dane Jewett (Pivot Factory Racing) in 11th, Jon Mozell (We Are One Momentum) in 21st, Michael de la Salle (Gwin Racing) in 23rd and Dylan Marino (Outlaw Racing) in 24th all move on to Sunday’s finals.

Jack McCleod, Jake Polito and Benny de Vall all finished a few spots outside the top-30 cut-off.

On the women’s side, Erice van Leuven (Commencal Les Orres) resumed her place at the front of the junior women’s field after a stellar 2023. Heather Wilson (Muc-Off Young Guns) followed with the second fastest qualifying time on her home track. Eliana Hulsebosch (Union) was third fastest in qualifying.

Junior finals are broadcast, free, on UCI Mountain Bike World Series’ YouTube channel.