The winners are the 2 veterans Valentina Höll (YT Mob) and Loïc Bruni (Specialized) who add yet another stage to their splendid palmares.
Valentina Höll is only 22 years old, but the reigning DH world champion is already a veteran. Gloria Scarsi (Canyon CLLCTV Pirelli) completed a beautiful race, making a consistent run that put her in the top 5.
Loïc Bruni has six UCI Downhill World Championships and three overall UCI World Cup titles under his belt, but the Frenchman had never managed to win at Fort William in his nine previous races in Scotland. However, “Superbruni” was on his day today and didn't do anything wrong.
Saturday's fastest, Troy Brosnan (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team), came close to defeating Bruni, but the Australian and 2014 Fort William UCI World Cup winner finished 2nd by just 1,8 seconds. Bruni's teammate Finn Iles (Specialized Factory Gravity) capped off a successful weekend for Specialized Factory Gravity by taking third place, while Dakotah Norton and Luca Shaw (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) rounded out the podium in fourth and fourth respectively. fifth place.
Greg Williamson (Madison Saracen Factory Team) was the highest placing British rider in 7th, while fan favorite Reece Wilson (Trek Factory Racing Gravity) finished 16th. An impressive return after two injury-hit seasons.
JUNIOR COMPETITION
In the Junior category, local biker Heather Wilson (Muc-Off Young Guns) won her first UCI World Cup junior race. The 3,5-year-old used her experience on the Fort William course to stay under five minutes, with Sacha Earnest (Trek Factory Racing Gravity) and Eliana Hulsebosch (Union – Forged by Steel City Media) finishing second and third respectively with more than XNUMX .XNUMX seconds behind.
Meanwhile, in the Junior Men's category, Asa Vermette (Framework Racing) blew away the rest of the field with a blistering 4:10.55. The American broke his pelvis at the end of March but showed no signs of slowing down in Scotland, posting the fastest splits in three out of four sectors. Luke Wayman (The Gravity Cartel – Rogue Racing) took second place, while local rising star and fastest qualifier Daniel Parfitt (BNC Racing) gave the Scottish fans another excuse to celebrate with third place.
MEN'S ELITE RANKING
| 1. |  | BRUNI Loic SPECIALIZED GRAVITY | 4:04.264 |
| 2. |  | BROSNAN Troy CANYON CLLCTV FACTORY TEAM | 4:06.104 +1.840 |
| 3. |  | ILES Finn SPECIALIZED GRAVITY | 4:06.253 +1.989 |
| 4. |  | NORTON Dakotah MONDRAKER FACTORY RACING | 4:07.353 +3.089 |
| 5. | | SHAW Luke CANYON CLLCTV FACTORY TEAM | 4:07.943 +3.679 |
| 6. | | COULANGES Benoit DORVAL AM COMMENCAL | 4:08.135 +3.871 |
| 7. |  | WILLIAMSON Greg MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM | 4:09.075 +4.811 |
| 8. | | VERGIER Loris TREK FACTORY RACING GRAVITY | 4:09.361 +5.097 |
| 9. |  | KOLB Andreas CONTINENTAL ATHERTON | 4:09.433 +5.169 |
| 10. | | WALKER Matt MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM | 4:10.117 +5.853 |
FEMALE ELITE RANKING
| 1. | | HÖLL Valentina yt MOB extension | 4:41.424 |
| 2. |  | HOFFMANN Nina SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE | 4:41.985 +0.561 |
| 3. | | SEAGRAVE Tahnee CANYON CLLCTV FMD | 4:43.255 +1.831 |
| 4. |  | BALANCHE Camille DORVAL AM COMMENCAL | 4:45.381 +3.957 |
| 5. |  | POOR Glory CANYON CLLCTV PIRELLI | 4:48.651 +7.227 |
Round four of the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series will take place next weekend, May 10-12, in the outdoor region of Finale, Italy. The first UCI Enduro World Cup and UCI E-Enduro World Cup of the year is the second of three consecutive Gravity weekends, before the XCO championships resume later this month (May 24-26) in Nové Město Na Moravě, Czech Republic.
