At the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships the downhill competitions will attract huge excitement with high-speed thrills and split-second margins separating the rainbow bands from the also-rans…
Welcome to Fort William
Almost 100 miles north of Glasgow, “Fort Bill” is a regular UCI World Cup venue – and the longest at 2.82km - and hosted the 2007 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships. Fort William’s downhill course drops 550m on an average gradient of 11%, peaking at 20%, with riders hitting 80km/h.
Its wealth of managed natural features and technical sections reward bravery. Wet or dry it pushes riders to the limit while crosswinds can whip up in the rocky open top section before riders enter the forest with its jumps, road gaps and tight technical challenges.
Historically it’s seen victories for the highest calibre athletes including Greg Minnaar (RSA), Aaron Gwin (USA), Steve Peat (GBR), Tracey Hannah (AUS), Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) and Rachel Atherton (GBR). In recent years the Scottish track has seen three successive UCI World Cup wins for Amaury Pierron (FRA), while Germany’s Nina Hoffmann is the Women Elite’s most recent winner there, in 2022.
2023’s schedule
The downhill action is packed into the first weekend of the UCI Cycling World Championships. Even protected riders – the top 10 Women Elite and top 20 Men Elite of the latest UCI World Cup Standing – must complete qualification to reach their final. After qualification on Thursday 3 August, 60 Men Junior and 15 Women Junior face their finals on Friday afternoon. Elites qualify on Friday and race finals on Saturday 5 August: 80 Men Elite following 40 Women Elite.
Young Talent
Lisa Bouladou (FRA) is the only Women Junior athlete to podium at all three 2023 UCI World Cup rounds so far. She will face stiff competition from the New Zealand pair of Erice van Leuven and Sacha Earnest, while local focus will be on Britain’s Aimi Kenyon.
France also has favourites in the Men Junior: Léo Abella and Hugo Marini. Watch out for the much fancied Canadian Bodhi Kuhn, Italy’s Christian Hauser and young Britons Rudi Eichhorn and Oscar Griffiths.
Elites for the win!
In Women Elite racing, reigning UCI World Champion Valentina Höll (AUT) has shown her form by winning the last two rounds of the UCI World Cup. 2020 UCI World Champion Camille Balanche (SUI) has podiumed at all three 2023 World Cup rounds, while five-time UCI World Champion Rachel Atherton leads the British charge after an astonishing comeback win in Lenzerheide.
The Men Elite competition throws up plenty of question marks. Can Great Britain’s 18-year-old superstar Jordan Williams claim the crown? Will his Candian nemesis Jackson Goldstone be fit? Five-time UCI World Champion Loïc Bruni, Thibaut Dapréla, Amaury Pierron and Loris Vergier are all French potential winners. Britain’s squad also includes hopefuls Laurie Greenland and Danny Hart.