Fort William played host to another nail biting round of World Cup Downhill racing yesterday as the World’s best racers tried to conquer the longest track on the circuit. It had been three years since the last round at Fort William, the Scottish weather delivered some testing conditions and round two of the 2022 season was an epic event. Here’s the race results……
Fort William has taken some scalps over the years and this year was no different with some of the best riders in the World missing their chance to race. Loic Bruni crashed during training leading to a broken collarbone, Finn Isles was out with concussion, Aaron Gwin crashed in qualifying missing the main event, Brook MacDonald had a rear flat in qualifying missing the main event and so many more top riders missed the final.
As the women took to the track it was a moist and sticky track that was on offer in cold drizzly conditions. Many of the top riders made errors in the wet and lost time, but Nina Hoffmann managed to lay down an amazing run that saw her take the win by nearly 4 seconds. Looks like the move to The Santa Cruz Syndicate has paid dividends for her and it’ll be an exciting year in Women’s racing.
The men’s field proved to be an almost all French domination with only Laurie Greenland able to break into the top five as a Brit. Amaury Pierron continued his form and took his third win at Fort William in a row over Thibuat Diprella and Laurie Greenland. Pierron proving he is the man to beat for 2022 and holding the lead in the overall.
Elite Men
- Amaury Pierron 4:37.115
- Thibaut Daprela 4:37.583
- Laurie Greenland 4:38.031
Elite Women
- Nina Hoffmann 5:14.170
- Camille Balanche 5: 17.785
- Myriam Nicole 5:21.342
Junior Men
- Jordan Williams 4:38.485
- Jackson Goldstone 4:38.523
- Remy Meier-Smith 4:42.961
Junior Women
- Gracey Hemstreet 5:37.596
- Phoebe Gale 5:40.443
- Aimi Kenyon 5:43.563
FULL RACE RESULTS HERE
2022 UCI MTB World Cup men’s DH standings
1. Amaury Pierron FRA 455 points
2. Laurie Greenland GBR 289
3. Benoit Coulanges FRA 289
4. Danny Hart GBR 216
5. Matt Walker GBR 213
2022 UCI MTB World Cup women’s DH standings
1. Camille Balanche SUI 435 points
2. Myriam Nicole FRA 370
3. Valentina Höll AUT 325
4. Nina Hoffmann GER 292
5. Marine Cabirou FRA 246
It was another amazing round of downhill racing in the Scottish Highlands and a great trip back to next year’s 2023 World Championships location. Amaury Pierron continued his unbeaten form for the year and Nina Hoffmann took her second World Cup win with no shortage of action amongst the field. The next stop heads to Leogang, Austria on 10-12 June and we can’t wait to see the brakes wide open on course…..
