June 4/04 3:30 am - Fort William World Cup XC Preview

Posted by Editoress on 06/4/04
 

Fort William World Cup XC Preview

World Cup coverage sponsored by Vélirium 2004 and ORYX

Round three of the World Cup gets underway tomorrow in Fort William, Scotland. This is also the first round of the Downhill and 4-Cross World Cups, which will take place on Sunday.

The course is quite similar to last year, with a mixture of technical singletrack and fire road. A new descent and climb have been added to the loop, which is about 9 kilometres in length. The women will do four laps, and the men five. The first lap will cut out a switchback climb shortly after start for a fire road section, to hopefully spread the field out.

The riders are very positive about the course, with Seamus McGrath (Haro-adidas) calling it a "perfect course". It has been raining off and on all day, finally clearing up this evening. The track has been designed to shed water, and the riders report that even in the wet it is completely rideable.

There are 65 women and 125 men on the start list. The women go at 11:00 am local (6:00 am EDT) and the men at 2:00 pm (9:00 am EDT). The 4-Cross takes place at 6:00 pm (1:00 pm EDT). The forecast is for rain and drizzle in the morning, gradually clearing through the day.