The British dominated the Men Elite race while Austrian Valentina Höll won her second consecutive rainbow jersey.
“It’s insane. I’m lost for words. I knew I was riding well this weekend but never expected the win. I am speechless.” Great Britain’s Charlie Hatton wouldn’t have been on the lips of many as their favourite for the Men Elite podium let alone gold, but the 25-year-old, who’s never even won a UCI World Cup in downhill, surprised all by delivering a winning ride that will live long in the memory. On the women’s side, the sublime Valentina Höll of Austria retained her UCI World title.
One day after the Junior mountain bike downhill competitions, the specialty’s Elite UCI World Champions were crowned in Fort William on Saturday as part of the UCI Cycling World Championships taking place in Glasgow and across Scotland.
Hatton upsets the predictions
As they did in qualification, Britain’s Greg Williamson and then Angel Suarez Alonso of Spain set the leading time early on and, with the rain continuing to fall, looked good for top-five. Any hopes of victory soon disappeared, however, as Hatton forged into a three-second lead after the second split. He navigated the course superbly, stretching his lead to four seconds by the fourth split. He lost time over the last stretch but his 4:26.747 was 2.464 clear of the Spaniard.
To the astonishment of more than a few, rider after rider either failed to get anywhere near Hatton’s time or came to an abrupt end. As the rain intensified, Hatton’s lead seemed to strengthen.
Great Britain’s Bernard Kerr looked aggressive but saw his dreams dashed in the mud. Then it was over to teammate Laurie Greenland, who was 0.4secs up after the first split. That lead had flipped to a deficit by split two. The former Junior UCI World Champion – only 66th in qualifying - had reeled the lead into 0.882 by split three but lost momentum to finish over a second behind in second.
Andreas Kolb of Austria, second in qualifying, was up next and was neck-and-neck with Hatton, until coming to a near standstill in the mud. Incredibly, he ripped it up again, showing the form that’s given him two UCI World Cup wins this season, but was still over a second behind come split three. At the finish line, he’d cut the lead to finish second, 0.599 behind his Continental Atherton teammate.
Two riders to go and first up, five-time and reigning UCI World Champion, Loïc Bruni of France. He’d looked good in training and before the race had commented, “I’ve never seen the track look so good.… I feel like it’s a new Fort William.” Bruni’s not had the best of luck in Fort William, and it was again the case, as he finished fourth. That left UCI World number one Loris Vergier, of France, to go. But, like all of Hatton’s opposition, he lost time as the course rolled on, to finish out of the medals.
Höll handles the pressure to retain gold
Great Britain’s Tahnée Seagrave showed no ill-effects of yesterday’s qualifying crash, taking the lead… but not for long as 18-year-old teammate Phoebe Gale beat her time by 0.02secs. Gale has impressed in her first year in the Elite ranks and delivered a performance well above her years.
But it was another Brit, Louise-Anna Ferguson, who then came through to top spot. She looked completely at home… which she was, having grown up in the Fort William area. So, three Brits occupied the provisional podium, albeit not the five-time downhill UCI World Champion Rachel Atherton who was over three seconds behind Ferguson but would still finish eighth. With the top-10 to come, there was still plenty of racing ahead.
Even so, nobody appeared capable of breaking the British stranglehold on the podium… until France’s Marine Cabirou. The 26-year-old has an impressive palmares, winning silver at last year’s UCI World Championships in Les Gets, France, and bronze in 2019. A spate of injuries – including three broken vertebrae just over a year ago - seemed a distant memory as Cabirou set a time of 5:00.603, seven seconds ahead of Ferguson.
Italy’s Veronika Widmann’s chances were flattened by a puncture, while Monika Hrastnik of Slovenia never threatened the medals.
There were three athletes to go including Camille Balanche of Switzerland. The 2020 UCI World Champion, only 14th after qualifying, looked composed and fast, though was still two seconds down at split two. Balanche demonstrated her skill in the technical sections, and by split three had taken a narrow lead. Come the finish, she sat in the gold medal position by 0.341.
Germany’s Nina Hoffmann was the penultimate rider down and looking to confirm her victory in the Fort William round of last year’s UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. A crash before split three dashed her chances.
So, it was down to defending UCI World Champion Höll, who was already over a second clear after split one. Her lead had grown by the time she hit the woods, taking a high line and gathering speed. Although a little ragged up to split four, she still held a lead of 0.629. Then she appeared to spread her wings, flying over the jumps to take the win in 4:58.242, over two seconds clear of Balanche.
Back-to-back UCI World titles were hers.