The Athertons Sweep At Fort Bill

Round one of the Downhill series at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano became a family affair, with the brother and sister team of Gee and Rachel Atherton (GT Factory Racing) crushing the competition in the elite men's and women's races at Fort William, Scotland, on Sunday.

British riders have always upped their game at what is, essentially, their home course, and this year was no different. Fort William is considered one of the gravity centers of the sport, and boasts some of the biggest and most enthusiastic crowds of the year. At nearly five minutes long, the track is also one of the hardest, requiring technical skills for the rocky upper section, and power and fitness for the bottom half.

Rachel Atherton qualified first among the women, over six seconds in front of Emmeline Ragot (Lapierre Gravity Republic), but the defending overall World Cup champion has been burned before in Scotland, finishing second the last three years. Fort William was the only major downhill result missing from her resumé.

Emilie Siegenthaler (Gstaad-Scott) set the first sub-5:30 time, which held until Nicole Myriam (Commencal/Riding Addiction) went below 5:25. Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen) then took the leading time below 5:20, but Ragot and Atherton were still to ride. Ragot couldn't manage to overtake Carpenter, so it was down to Atherton, and the British champion did not falter, finishing over ten seconds ahead of her compatriot.

"Winning is just ridiculously hard here," Atherton commented. "I have qualified first a few years here. You can't let your guard down. It is such a wild track and that run was just so messy all the way down, I was just thinking I'm throwing it away, the other girls are going to be smoother. I couldn't believe it when I crossed the line and finally heard the crowd cheering, instead of groaning like normal. I can't believe it."

Atherton leads the overall standings with 250 points, followed by Carpenter at 190 and Ragot at 180.

Unlike the women, the men's race did not have a single clear favourite. Danny Hart (Giant Factory), the 2011 world champion, qualified first, but less than two-tenths of a second ahead of Gee Atherton.

The leading time crept down slowly, with Austin Warren (Pivot Factory Team) the first to go under 4:50. Local Scottish rider Greg Williamson (Trek World Racing) was the next to spend any length of time in the Hot Seat, but the fastest riders were just starting to come down.

Sam Hill (ChainReactionCycles.com/Nukeproof), who won the world title in Fort William in 2007, broke the 4:40 mark, but that would not prove to be enough to make the podium. Only two riders later Brook MacDonald (Trek World Racing) took the lead, with five riders remaining, setting the stage for some of the closest times ever seen. The next three riders all came within nine-tenths of a second of MacDonald, but none could surpass the New Zealand rider.

Then it was the turn of Atherton, the 2010 winner at Fort William. The British champion was running the rock sections at the top noticeably faster than any other rider and, although he lost a few tenths of a second in the lower half, he still crossed the line 1.142 seconds faster than MacDonald to take the lead. Hart covered the top sections of the course almost as quickly as Atherton before fading in the pedaling section to finish seventh.

"I can't begin to describe it," said Atherton. "It is a pretty emotional feeling. It has been a while since I won here, and my sister won on the same day. It doesn't get better than this. I was scared, but it was a smooth run. This is the first run on a new bike but it went smooth. I couldn't have asked for a better run really. I am stoked to start the World Cup series like this. Bring it on, I say.”

Atherton leads the World Cup with 240 points, followed by MacDonald with 180 and Steve Smith (Devinci Global Racing) with 162.

In the new Junior mens’s World Cup category, Noel Niederberger (Gstaad-Scott) was the top finisher, followed by Michael Jones (FMD/Intense Cycles) and Lucas Dean (Australian National).

TWR Team Scores Podium and Top 10 At World Cup Opener in Fort William

Trek World Racing opened its World Cup account in Fort William today with a 2nd place for Brook MacDonald and a 10th place for rookie pro, Greg Williamson, and solid positions for both Neko Mulally and George Brannigan. The team, now in its fifth season, has helped Trek rack up an impressive 34 World Cup podiums for the Session bike since 2009.

The Scottish Highlands served sunshine all week and a track that was dusty and not easy to read, and despite the threat of rain, the clouds held off in front of what must have been a record World Cup crowd at the Fort. First rider to come down for Trek World Racing was Scotland's Greg Williamson who turned 21 this weekend and had his whole family in attendance. Crossing the line after a fast bottom sector Greg took the hotseat by a massive 3.5secs and was to stay there for close to 25 minutes before eventually taking a career best 10th place.

Next up for the team was George Brannigan (NZL) who's on the road the recovery from major knee surgery and today achieved his goal with a solid qualifier and final, now ranked 31st in the World Cup going to Round 2. Neko Mulally was next and after scoring a point in the quali's yesterday was set for a top 15 today until a small error in the forest section put him back to 25th. The pace is there and his favorite tracks are yet to come.

Finally it was Brook 'Bulldog' MacDonald who qualified 6th fastest and was down at 13th place at the first split in his race run, but he dug deep in the lower section to take the fastest time and move into the hotseat. Only local favourite Gee Atherton who rode a great race, could finish ahead of the Kiwi.

Brook said: "I'm so happy. This is my best result at Fort William and only my 5th career podium so far. To do this at my first World Cup for my new team is very special, couldn't be happier".

Greg said: "I suffered from nerves pretty bad yesterday in my quali and today I was so chilled I nearly missed my start! To get my first ever top 10 in a World Cup, in my home country, I'm speechless".

Finishing top 10 is one of the criteria for Greg to be selected for the British team to the World Championships. Spots on that team are hard fought for and the 7 riders will be named after Round 3. Trek World Racing finished 3rd today in the team ranking and showed it is super competitive and ready for the rest of the World Cup season.

The team will now head straight to Val di Sole in Italy for Round 2 of the World Cup next weekend.

2013 UCI World Cup Round 1 Fort William Final Results

Junior Men's Final Results

1	NIEDERBERGER Noel	SUI19950821	GSTAAD-SCOTT	4:49.931
2	JONES Michael	GBR19950222	FMD RACING / INTENSE CYCLES	+3.464
3	LUCAS Dean	AUS19950502	AUSTRALIA	+3.659
4	VERGIER Loris	FRA19960507	LAPIERRE GRAVITY REPUBLIC	+4.055
5	ATWILL Phil	GBR19950111	MADISON SARACEN DOWNHILL TEAM	+4.952
6	WALLACE Mark	CAN19950601	DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING	+5.835
7	SHAW Luca	USA19961225	SPECIALIZED RACING DH	+6.659
8	GRAHAM Innes	GBR19960703	MS MONDRAKER TEAM	+7.161
9	GULLAND Morgan	GBR19950624	GREAT BRITAIN - B	+9.091
10	VERNASSA Gianluca	ITA19950904	DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING	+9.453
11	CORNFORTH Cameron	IRL19950409	IRELAND	+13.123
12	KNOTT Peter	AUS19950616	AUSTRALIA	+13.183
13	VARLEY Aiden	AUS19960816	AUSTRALIA	+14.718
14	McCORMACK Stephen	IRL19951028	IRELAND	+15.616
15	COLOMBO Francesco	ITA19951209	TEAM AIROH AXO SANTACRUZ	+15.703

Women's Final Results

1	ATHERTON Rachel	GBR19871206	GT FACTORY RACING	5:08.846
2	CARPENTER Manon	GBR19930311	MADISON SARACEN DOWNHILL TEAM	+10.139
3	RAGOT Emmeline	FRA19860527	LAPIERRE GRAVITY REPUBLIC	+11.373
4	NICOLE Myriam	FRA19900208	COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION	+15.450
5	CHARRE Morgane	FRA19900609	MS MONDRAKER TEAM	+16.646
6	PUGIN Floriane	FRA19890417	GSTAAD-SCOTT	+18.148
7	SIEGENTHALER Emilie	SUI19860919	GSTAAD-SCOTT	+20.384
8	KINTNER Jill	USA19811024	TEAM NORCO INTERNATIONAL	+21.154
9	HANNAH Tracey	AUS19880613	HUTCHINSON UR	+23.413
10	CERNILOGAR Zarja	SLO19891218	BLACKTHORN GT	+26.497
11	SEAGRAVE Tahnee°	GBR19950615	FMD RACING / INTENSE CYCLES	+29.412
12	GATTO Micayla	CAN19880821		+36.309
13	SUEMASA Mio	JPN19830401		+37.803
14	VERBEECK Vaea	CAN19901125		+41.174
15	GRIFFITHS Fionn	GBR19820827		+43.915

Men's Final Results

1	ATHERTON Gee	GBR19850226	GT FACTORY RACING	4:36.712
2	MACDONALD Brook	NZL19911125	TREK WORLD RACING	+1.142
3	SMITH Steve	CAN19891125	DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING	+1.361
4	BLENKINSOP Samuel	NZL19881028	LAPIERRE GRAVITY REPUBLIC	+1.489
5	HANNAH Michael	AUS19831121	HUTCHINSON UR	+1.968
6	HILL Samuel	AUS19850721	CHAIN REACTION CYCLES.COM / NUKEPROOF	+2.131
7	HART Danny	GBR19910920	GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM	+2.644
8	MINNAAR Greg	RSA19811113	SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE	+4.065
9	BRYCELAND Josh	GBR19900323	SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE	+4.084
10	WILLIAMSON Greg	GBR19920608	TREK WORLD RACING	+5.416
11	BEAUMONT Marc	GBR19840925	GT FACTORY RACING	+6.555
12	BROSNAN Troy	AUS19930713	SPECIALIZED RACING DH	+6.603
13	SMITH Joseph	GBR19900704	CHAIN REACTION CYCLES.COM / NUKEPROOF	+8.112
14	PEKOLL Markus	AUT19871013	MS MONDRAKER TEAM	+8.298
15	NEETHLING Andrew	RSA19840805	GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM	+8.356
16	COLE Cameron	NZL19880203	YETI FOX SHOX FACTORY RACE TEAM	+8.380
17	THIRION Rémi	FRA19900423	COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION	+8.628
18	DALE Sam	GBR19900212	MADISON SARACEN DOWNHILL TEAM	+8.658
19	DELFS Mitchell	AUS19890725	EVIL VENGEANCE TOUR	+8.758
20	GWIN Aaron	USA19871224	SPECIALIZED RACING DH	+8.901