Fort William - day one recap

In the pits and on the hill

Wyn Masters is back on the World Cup scene aboard the new Bulls Bikes DH rig. The New Zealand rider has been plagued with injury over the past couple of years and yet to return to the form he showed back in 2010, qualifying 5th in Champery, Switzerland.

Steve Behr

Robin Weaver

Published: June 7, 2013 at 11:49 pm

Round one of the UCI Downhill World Cup kicked off today here in Fort William on what many riders regard as one of the toughest tracks on the circuit.

Unusually, the weather has been stinking hot and the track bone dry from top to bottom. The upper sections have become even rougher. Even the smoothest riders ranked within the top 10 seem to be getting bucked and rattled as they try and stick to their lines.

The new practice format sees the riders split into an A and B group. The A group consists of male riders ranked within the top 150 while the B group consists of the entire female category, juniors and men ranked outside top 150. The system is one that’s been praised by the riders but does mean the windows for spotting specific riders feels more limited.

It wasn’t until late this afternoon that we saw riders begin to really open things during timed practice, where Michael Hannah took the top spot in the men’s, while Rachael Atherton firmly stamped a mark of authority on the women’s category.

Here’s some of our highlights from the day...

Technical editor-in-chief

Rob Weaver is BikeRadar's technical editor-in-chief. Rob manages all of the testing here at BikeRadar and across our magazines, Mountain Biking UK and Cycling Plus. Rob first graced the pages of MBUK back in 2001 when working as a freelance writer and went on to start testing bikes for the title in 2007. In 2010 he joined the team full-time and has been keeping a close eye on all things test-related ever since. Rob’s expansive knowledge of bikes comes courtesy of his passion for racing. He cut his teeth racing cross-country mountain bikes in the early 90s before finding his feet in downhill. After many years competing on the UK national circuit (including a year attempting to race UCI DH World Cups), Rob realised his know-how and passion for bike setup, tech and writing clearly outweighed his racing ability. A degree in sports technology and decades of riding experience all help to give Rob a thorough understanding of what’s needed to create a great bike or product. While Rob’s a mountain biker at heart and never happier than when he’s sliding down a Welsh hillside, he’s more than happy to put the miles in on the road or gravel bike, too.