Fort William – Men Elite DHI Highlights | 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

Watch the Men Elite DHI highlights from the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William, Scotland.

Full Results and race calendar at https://www.uci.org/discipline/mountain-bike/4LArSj7CKcytMrGEDtKwkb?discipline=MTB

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as we head back to the star hot Then Greg Minar drops in at the top going for his eighth Fort William win today manard he’s done three on the BS before across the Highland Hillside a good to see it again there we go yeah so cool to see Greg back up to form like you said a little ping his step seems like this year kind of some renewed energy oh little inside oh down hard into that right hand corner just got taken out by something front wheel left the chop 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 I wonder if there’s a rock or something in that corner we couldn’t see that made him have to switch the lineup but man good to see him kind of ride away from that that’s got to be one of the hardest places you could crash on the track Lis verier then in the start hop for treack factory ring what can he do in 2024 we talked about Danny Hart’s hunt for a win here Lis V is on the hunt for a title he needs one Aron doesn’t he yeah you feel like he’s been so close so many years kind of has a tendency to start the the year out really strong and just for whatever reason it it just kind of hasn’t been able to finish it see lores ride he kind of reminds me of a cat he’s just so precise and just I think he’s a real perfectionist as well you know but he has had some niggling injuries that I think he kind of keeps quiet probably why we haven’t always seen him like right at the top consistently but it would be great yo just as we say that the back end just kicks up very unlike Loris in my opinion so excited for him this year man you just feel like that win is just any moment now second L last season opens his account for 2024 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 well you we talked about it last season didn’t we that he couldn’t get tracks long enough he just went faster as they went on this is pretty much about as long and fast as they get yeah this is going to be very interesting if he can keep building here know he’s had a couple little issues couple little Mechanicals in practice you can keep this thing together and keep the wheels rolling the reason behind those bars yeah he said he was getting them chin bar strike on his helmet yep they would uh if you saw how tall those things are you believe it yeah the problem is if he gets the bars any you hire he’s going to need a crossbar and then he’s going to go back into the same problem I don’t know who his bar sponsor is but this would be a great time for some signature bars I’m just going to throw that out there yeah I’m sure I’m sure he’s had meetings this week I’m sure have been the bars are made by onoff MERS in component brand yeah sneaky little inside there coming that right further up miss all the holes that’s one thing Dakota is really good at kind of opening the track up just moving over a little bit kind of sets himself up man a lot of speed through the Highline there see how straight he’s going in these Corners they are an an out R machine these new M drers are specifically designed for racing not for bike park LS for Cruis about on despite the like they are really adjust R done said actually spent so long in Queen’s time because it took him a good while experiment the different Lings he’s a second faster the second split to C Orton now yeah keeping it low on the gas here yeah the could have said the same thing he’s like maybe not the smoothest bike you’ve ever ridden but if you’re trying to go fast it uh it carries that speed another little inside there there going to be yeah he’s extending 2 seconds at the third split KN to C Norton can he get his first UCI D World Cup win yeah this is what I was talking about if he can come out of the gate strong and kind of set the pace he usually just gets better as the track goes I would not expect him to lose any time down here at the bottom with that old blue GoPro back hel let’s see what the next split says 54.7 km hour through the speed trap 2.3 seconds 1.8 now at four so it’s still green by some margin for D Norton here yeah choosing to tuck instead of pedal between those couple of top jumps always a hard call to make but he’s got to get low here he was 10 for the UCI World Championship here last summer where he got a stack up this year first place for duta Norton 1.7 seconds faster than Greg Williamson boy that for margins Williams can’t believe it that is hard to put that much time in on this track so I would say that’s at the very least going be a Podium ride but man what a ride that be if that end up being a winning run plays almost every race he is on a bit of he is on a bit of form at the minute he’s won two domestic races already this year so he arrives into this first World Cup full of confidence and didn’t it show yesterday he turned a 30th position in qualifying R to an eighth place semi finish that takes some doing yeah SP a lot of time to riding and training and testing uh Ely checking all the boxes and putting the work in such a cool kid awesome to hang out with big fan of this guy and uh yeah you kind of just feel the trajectory he’s been at has been very impressive the results haven’t been all over the board just slowly climbing up and you’re like man once he kind of gets it figured out and gets that base and finds that little bit of extra speed it’s going to be uh good things coming for him so yesterday was that day it seems like it’s starting and there goes the tire it’s thecid it wants no more to do with Austin D’s rear rear Rim Yeah uh it’s a tough one to swallow yeah like we were talking about I think the rain that came in yesterday it uh the track was really starting to come apart uh at the start of qualifiers yesterday then the rain came and uh this track’s a little better when you get a little bit of moisture on it kind of holds the gravel together Fort William on its 19th International appearance is finding a way to demolish them it’s always been this way it’s always been this tough in Fort William yeah Luke Meers Smith Australian National Champion St made last season brok a colar bone but he’s back this year and he wants so much more from it one in EDR World Cup early doors in Tasmania can he get one on the big bike yeah what a ride from him yesterday man you can see it just going for it out of the game he knows and get up there y that nice hopping those breaking bumps into that turn he had a real breakout ride here back in 2022 when he got a nine F board ofan the Ben Reed Squad he was 18th at the worlds last summer but was still kind of on the comeback trail from injury and big fast really physically strong could be his day today yeah you can see it I mean he’s charging no resting over here he’s taking pedals everywhere oh ging out of that that turn is pretty sketchy to do that remember ear on the broadcast you talked about sitting down on the boardwalk and res for sit down take a breath and it’s like nope not anymore you got to be on the gas luk my Smith just jumped halfway across it that’s awesome 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 I think he has just re-entered the track at the wrong Point as well from where he left iron talk us through this yeah just he looked like he was in a good spot but just fully committed just pushes the front end over the top of the BM just a little bit my uh my teammate Seth actually did the exact same thing in the left-hander right there the other day and ended up with some cool stitches as a reward LCA Shaw Canyon Collective 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 LCA Shaw really aggressive over the L Rider’s right hand side jumps across that little Gap in the woods yeah we know how Dakota how good Dakota was in that second split so he’s still in touch here and he’s going to be really powerful at the bottom there is there is the top five then Norton K Williams and ver C are they about to be joined by Shaw is he going to eject one of those names from the front list race he 610 back at the second split Luca Shaw now yeah this is going to be interesting if there’s a section where I feel like Luca can shine it’s basically from here to the Finish Line you’re going to see him get hard on the pedals super precise that bike another machine with plenty of suspension trickery going on tram flight attendant adjusting the damping settings the rider’s got the ability to do up control to the left hand side off his fum so fre to go after this bruny Isles broen Fort William being as tough as ever and are in really weather conditions we’ve got the best of them so far yeah this is a All-Star day at Fort William couldn’t ask for much more than this big whip landed perfectly by Luca Shaw yeah again look at how tight the times are we’re talking about half a second second Mach with these last couple of riders and this is a m of plenty of reserves of horse EMP TI now he’s it t 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 Miss half a second behind Dakota Orton it’s America one two in Fort William he knows he was close that one’s tough too cuz it’s like these guys b battle at home all the time too you fly all the way over here and you end up fighting for the WIS with the same guys US national champ and one two on the podium like bruny specialized Gravity the French national champion the reigning UCI downhill World Cup overall title holder sets off to try and break his bogey track Fort William has never been kind to this man is this the year he finally writes the wrongs he got a disc break cover on his bike I haven’t seen that before never sto Tinker with this specialized prototype everything they seem to be doing seems to be working so far bruny absolutely superb through there yeah that’s looking really good yeah Lo look comfortable all weekend on the right lines just I don’t know seems to me like he’s kind of figured it out uh his qualifying time was I think a shocker to everybody came down almost 3 seconds faster than everybody and I’m I’m curious to see what happens this run cuz there a lot of energy to put into one of those runs and 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 SP one second faster at the first split for L bruny his best here was fourth at the UCI worlds last season before that you to go back to 2018 for a fif had that huge get off in 2019 if you remember that midair we talked about with him earlier in the week and he said it was one of the worst crashes cuz he had so much time to think about the impact yeah nothing like flying through the air Ricky Bobby style you’re like yep flying through the air right now not good it was a huge crash man he hit his face he was kind of bleeding everywhere it was a scary one it was good to see him walk away from that but he didn’t just walk away from he rallied to take the title that year as well just as as tough as it gets [Music] that is 2.7 seconds faster for ly bruny that is a lot of time on this track 158 beats per minute six times a UCI down hill world champion last year was his third world cup overall title and what a wi to start this season 2.7 seconds up at the second split in Fort Williams yeah it is very hard to pick this run apart and find something he’s doing wrong seems like the bike’s working well he’s just spot on his lines everywhere when him when he and specialized start clicking the Gill he kind of skims through stuff you never see him sort of get impacted by the holes he’s traveling over top three at the minute theota Norton Luca Shaw bwong that looks all set to change this run keeps going the way it’s going yeah and he has a history at the bottom I don’t know if it’s that bike he’s got lockouts or 2.5 no so he’s dropped two1 yeah whatever they do he uh he finds time at the bottom of tracks that thing goes really quick he’s super efficient you’ll see him staying low here nice and packed in multiple suspension modes on that fight so he will be able he will have a set up for these jumps to Steffen 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 it’s l bruny going to go bruny takes the lead by three seconds from Dakota Norton that is how you start a title defense like broney punches the air he’s not done it that often in Fort William that one felt good yeah what a run wow fin is oh he’s pushing hard already pushing extremely hard up there fin ises oh just blow the dirt off the track you see it these top couple of guys they know it’s like you you cannot rat you cannot give any time away from the first pedal stroke out of the gate you’ve got to be all in this man’s teammate ly pruny has made an incredible statement off off intent at the start of the 32nd UCI downhill World Cup season second and Val solid trentino last season final’s very very different track here in Fort William but no less intimidating doesn’t look scared of it let’s see what the second split says I love watching to return so hard kind of leans in with his point it back so the pressure being turned on by lloy 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 BR 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 he’s the ultimate Sunday Rider isn’t he he’s the ultimate race Rider yeah yeah BR is one of those guys when it matters mosty to just figure it out you know it’s very difficult to do 2.1 no so it is moving away from Mil as he does that massive second river Gap new for this year and he looks so good it’s hard to pick it apart it’s uh you know bruny I think that carrying speed just a little bit better all the way down but oh this would have been right this would been this would have been it if it wasn’t for the if it wasn’t for the run before it count out 2 seconds it ain’t much 180 fats per minute for fines from specialized gravity then as he heads through this jump section again he will be flicking through the suspension modes on that specialized prototype to carry as much speed as he can he’s looking good good backsides on the jumps 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 fin crosses the line and goes into second place it’s a specialized gravity one two as things stand with only one right left at the top left at the top and it’s this man Troy [Music] broen yeah so efficient on the bike you’ll see very rare does he ever put a wheel out of place very tidy on the bike really good on the pedals lot of experience with this guy maybe one of the most consistent or maybe the most consistent racer we’ve ever seen the amount of podiums and top 10 this kid has had is unbelievable he’s just kind of been caught between Generations I don’t have to look too far beside me for somebody in the commentary Booth he’s kind of been caught between those big dominant figures in the sport hasn’t he yeah I think for Troy it was uh I think early on when we were teammates he um he was so fast and he have some mistakes and he kind of toned it back a little bit and he’s kind of just been known as being like so consistent on every track every weather train all the time Troy’s there yeah go Troy broen then he’s look fast another bike equipped with that rock shock flight attended adjustable suspension system 2.2 back though that’s ominous that’s a lot Aaron yeah it is you can see him really good straight direct line but I mean that was what L did to everybody else right was like yeah maybe and then he just all the sudden was two seconds up on everybody so he really did something special in that second split yeah he just kept going didn’t he [Applause] Bry well lot to fight for here I mean he’s basically right on the bubble with everything else this is more what we would expect if you look at the results from second on back usually there’s you know seven dudes on the same second first through seventh or whatever fast to see two sets of teammates going out like this as well yeah it seems like cany specializ definitely got it figured out this week and he’s pulling back a bit of time though that’s pretty pretty surprising Briny was so strong all the way to the botttom he has B 310 of a second back now broen as we said superb part away few can pedal like him so keep this going 56 km an hour through the speed trap from Troy broen as he heads down into the jumps broen oh just DS side slightly wide I wonder if he just got the K there pulled back even more time 1.7 the Gap yeah watch this boy on the PS here he can get Rosen tasting blood heads down the woods the Finish Line is it going to be enough to beat Lloyd bruny here today Troy broen going for a victory 10 years apart Troy broen goes second and four wiam like bruny wins the opening UCA down hill World Cup after the season at a track that has never been kind to him bruny puts a few ghosts to bear with that one Finn is has to settle for f Troy bren’s got past him in second what a result that that is bruny victorious in Fort William celebrates ahead of broen Isles Norton and Shaw your top five [Music]