RACE HIGHLIGHTS | Mens UCI Downhill World Cup Fort William

Downhill is BACK! Check out the race highlights from an intense first round of the 2024 UCI Downhill World Cup in Fort William, Scotland.

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The UCI Mountain Bike World Series unites mountain bike’s major formats under a single brand for the first time. The new UCI Mountain Bike World Series includes the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup for Cross-country Olympic (XCO), Cross-country Short Track (XCC), Cross-country Marathon (XCM), Downhill (DHI), Enduro (EDR) and E-enduro (E-EDR).

Comprehensive coverage from the races captures the excitement through exclusive interviews, analysis, reactions and event highlights. In-between events and through the off-season there are regular features covering technical and rider-based topics. All embedded with the latest mountain bike action from the world’s best riders.

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[Music] Fort William is one of the most iconic racetracks in the world proud host to nearly two decades of World Cup action and to the sports most committed and hardcore fans we’re better then to start the 2024 season of the UCI mountain bike downhill World Cup then right here on this brute of a course in the outdoors capital of the UK the start hot night drops in from beside the cafe a top anic Moore and then it is a bullet fast but extremely Rocky choppy run down to the woods off the top Red Bull R gaps in there as is the big Dune the big fast sweeping turns after the new Hazard hoofer Big River Gap 12 MERS or so the Shimano Motorway section’s been revamped as well in the event Scotland wall in the finish and it really is the length 2.9 km long Fort William and we’ll rejoin the goat picking his way across the Highland Hillside a good to see it again there we go yeah so cool to see Greg back up the form like you said a little ping his stap it seems like this year kind of some Renewed Energy oh little inside oh Minard down hard into that right hand corner just got taken out by something front wheel left the chat yeah that was a weird one he went inside in that left-hander and I was like wow he’s kind of getting out of the bumps but if you go inside there it really doesn’t leave you with much room cuz you got to set up for that next Corner straight away kind of fade a little wide out of that corner there but it’s nice but yeah Big investment from the team I think they uh oh car D hard just before that left-hander that was a big off what’s caught him out there Aon do you think think we can expect a strong ride from Matt Walker though as Matt Walker leaves a start H I can just give you an update that Jordan Williams slung his goggles into the crow and hit somebody right the head who wasn’t waiting for goggles to land outside line there kind of straight in yeah he’s faster nearly 410 faster for Matt Walker now Walker into the woods he was looking really strong in those turns such a hard thing to make good speed out of them this is going to be a close one his teammate Greg Williamson set to drop in later on the split at the top goes green so what is Matt Walker going to do he trains so hard so you know he’s got the fitness ma Walker crosses the line and goes fastest by 410 of a second in Fort William yeah look at what it means to him let’s go boy yeah a bit of a relief there he knows he’s been does he get it nailed it no they were they saw that one coming yeah that was fine man this would be a huge run for him if he could pull it off he’s going to be stoked absolutely perfect through there goes a little bit higher on the wall ride to pump for more speed loses three t0 of a second though moving backwards and the red get those pumps land a little deep Big G iron is moving and he’s back in the lead again three1 of a second now Williamson moves in towards it Greg Williamson over the penultimate jump dips down in towards the Finish area set the hit the final jump Here Comes Greg Williamson over the line and Greg Williamson goes fastest in for William the Scottish Crow go 210 of a second faster than Loris Fier Greg Williamson congratulated by Matt Walker at the bottom and he’s faster as well three T the second faster than Williamson so that’s good that’s kind of been his struggle in the past big inside there as well in that turnup is uh getting out of the gate strong he’s one of those riders that tends to just build as the course goes on super strong maybe the only rider in the pits that you won’t hear complaining about his hands hurting on a track like this it’s going to be yeah he’s extending 2 seconds at the third split KN to K Orton can he get his first UCI Dino World Cup win he was 10 for the UCI World Championships here last summer where is he going to stack up this year first place for Dakota Norton 1. 7 Seconds faster than Greg Williamson had a boy is that for margins Williamson can’t believe it look at that yeah what a shot no place like Fort William there is definitely definitely not Austin dly no oh I did see a big puff of something there from that aerial shot and I hoped it was just dirt but there’s not a lot of dirt left up there amongst the Rocks so that might have been what Sealand was in that rear tire d man what a bummer still in a great week in for him but is finding a way to demolish them it’s always been this way it’s always been this tough in Fort William yeah yeah you see kind of how how resilient you have to be in this sport man I mean you just came off of his best ride ever full factory set up with a national champ sleeve on Luke Meers Smith just needs a UCI downhill World Cup win now yeah it’s cool to see the different styles you kind of see a couple guys like Dakota and these guys just kind of moving around a lot to get out of every bump Luke’s just kind of choosing to run the main as fast as he can jumps cleanly across those routes goes low on that turn makes it work for him then spit oh goes right and just went slightly too high ah man that’s a big impact from Luke Meers Smith I was just going to say I haven’t seen anybody go inside in that left and be able to hold it all the way around and not eventually fade wide really nice but it does put you in a position to be really tight for that next right-hander yeah kind of a little bit similar Styles too they’re both uh real good on the pedal super kind of clean efficient tidy Riders it’s actually looks like Luca is he’s pushing pretty hard here don’t often see him kind of sliding around he knows that’s what he needs to do kind of find that limit nice straight line to the outside there Luca Shaw really aggressive over L Rider’s right hand side jumps cross that little Gap in the woods being as tough as ever and are in really weather conditions we’ve got the best of them so far yeah this is a Allstar day for it William couldn’t ask for much more than this big whip landed perfectly by Luca Shaw yeah again look how tight the times are we’re talking about half a second second Max with these last couple of riders and this is a man with plenty of reserves of horow to empty the tank now he’s 8/10 outside but we have seen Riders turn it around in this last split Luca Shaw heading towards the Finish area off the final jump crosses the line and goes into second place half a second behind Dakota Norton it’s America one two like bruny specialized Gravity the French national champion the reigning UCI downhill World Cup overall title holder sets off to try and break his boogey track Fort William has never been kind to this man is this the year he finally writes the wrongs I’m curious to see what happens this run because there’s a lot of energy to put into one of those runs and he I don’t know if he backed off a little bit I mean obviously the semi was still very competitive in third really fast time but you kind of almost feel like he was maybe saving a little more in the tank for today Clips a pulling his way through there bruny swings left man look at that split 1 second faster at the first split for ly bruny yeah he got it done the hard way last year ly bruny with that title yeah I think the results didn’t quite show where he was at he did win the championship but it was uh I think he had more wins in him so this year goes a little smoother oh yeah man this is a game r that is 2.7 seconds faster for L bruny that is a lot of time on this track 158 beats per minute six times a UCI D Hill world champion last year was his third world cup overall title and what a way to start this season 2.7 seconds up at the second split in Fort Williams multiple suspension modes on that fight so he will be able he will have a set up for these jumps to stiffen things up to carry the maximum speed he just needs to get the wheels set down in the right place and get on the pedals 165 ft per minute now bruny now heads down towards the line there’s not much more he can do apart from this final jump is L bruny going to go in lot bruny takes the lead by three seconds from Dakota Norton that is how you start a title defense L bruny punches the air he’s not done it that often in Fort William that one felt good yeah yeah what a run wow fines who he took the UCI overall points leaders jersey off last season on his route to that title 168 beats per minute 172 beats per minute night Isles up high L Rider’s right yeah you can see it I mean that’s what’s tricky about this track if you go for it at the top there’s time there but as we’ve been talking about it’s a lot of work he’s already into the 170s heart rate wise now you’ve just got to maintain that for about four minutes yeah love watching Fen Rod he commits to the turn so hard kind of leans in with his point8 back so the pressure being turned on by L bruny here in finals in Fort William and fines at the minute doesn’t have an answer for it yeah a little off the back but he’s fighting for second right now still very much in it these are those rides too it’s like you get somebody like bruny that everything clicks on the right day it’s like just go ahead and take your second place it’s going to be a long year a lot of races coming up one off the Riders to beat this season but you just get the feeling that he might have got enough in the time to beat his team here today fines crosses the line and goes into second place it’s a specialized gravity onew as f stand with only one Rider left at the top Troy broen then he’s L fast another bike equipped with that rock shock’s flight attended adjustable suspension system 2.2 back though that’s ominous that’s a lot Aaron yeah it is you could see him really good straight direct line but I mean that was what L did to everybody else right was like oh maybe and then he just all of a sudden was 2 seconds up on everybody so he really did something special in that second split yeah he just kept going didn’t he bruny superb part away few can pedal like him so if he can keep this going 56 km an hour through the speed trap from Troy broen as he heads down into the jumps broen oh just Dess out slightly wide I wonder if he just gotten the kitty L there he pulled back even more time 1.7 now is the gap yeah watch this boy on the pedals here he can give her broen T in blood head down towards the Finish Line is it going to be enough to beat L bruny here today Troy broen going for a victory 10 years apart Troy broen goes second in Fort William L bruny wins the opening UCI downhill World Cup off the season at a track that has never been kind to him bruny puts a few ghosts to Bear by that one fin ises has to settle for third Troy br got past him in second what a result that is bruny from broen is then it’s Dakota Norton Luca Shaw in fifth place two American Riders on the podium Aaron you should do some more commentary yeah yeah great day for those boys but man what can you say uh uhoh that’s uh that’s a statement off from i’ be to talk to him and that looked like about as perfect of a run as you can get on a track that he’s had so many struggles with over the year to pull that together I knew I could do it one one day or the other and this weekend I was a little bit struggling with the wet and then today the the the cloud held on so no rain I was like okay this is the opportunity or never you know I was feeling strong the bike was good I felt everything was perfect for it so I pushed everywhere I was super physically not fresh at the bottom but I gave it I gave it all and I’m so happy that’s such an achievement for me and um over the moon and I’m so happy you have no idea there aren’t many places that you get to say his first win but this one has taken some doing like bruny kicks off his title defense in some style in the highlands of Scotland [Music] [Applause] bruny celebrates ahead of broen Isles Norton and Shaw your top five at the UCI World Cup in Fort William there we are then bruny wins by 1.8 seconds ahead of Troy broen fines third Dakota Norton superb in fourth as was Luca Shaw in fifth then kange Williamson up in seventh here are the standings bruny from bruny from broen by 35 points then it’s Isles Shaw Norton the top five kange Williamson Co verier Walker round out the top 10 [Music]