Fort William Mountain Bike World Cup The Adventure Show

Hello and a very warm welcome to Fort William,

where the best mountain bikers in the world

come to show us what they're made of.

It's going to be a white knuckle roller coaster ride

with competitors pushing themselves to their limit.

What a fabulous weekend of racing we have ahead of us.

We've got the fantastic combative 4X,

and five kilometres of super-fast downhill action in Fort William.

But that is not all.

We'll also be heading just down the road to meet some enterprising

young film-makers who have been making a name for themselves.

We thought at first that I was going to be quite scared

staying in the hut alone

but, in actual fact, it was quite amazing.

We'll be finding out what it's like for young riders keen to

make their mark here in Fort William.

People are cheering, and it's really noticeable. It feels like...

It's almost like a wall of sound.

It's just crazy.

And I'll be climbing a hill in the Western Highlands

that I think is one of the finest mountains in the whole of Scotland.

That is all to come. We're going to start with the gladiatorial 4X,

where racers ride on a specially designed, super technical course.

There's sure to be lots of bumps and bruises on this one.

-Oh, my goodness me!

-You're racing there with no mercy,

so you have to hit somebody a little bit, and use your shoulders.

It's only one pedal in, and from that moment on it's a lot of rocks.

A rough track.

Pretty loose at the moment because of the dry weather that we have,

but it's a fun track.

In this discipline, four riders battle it out head-to-head,

going flat out from top to bottom

with the top two going through to the next round.

It's a tough race for tough riders.

We're going to start off with the women's event,

and there's real interest from a British point of view

with Katy Curd, who already won the Williamsburg 4X last month.

But she'll be up against tough opposition

from the Netherlands, Anneke Beerten,

and, from France, Celine Gros.

I would like to be fast and have a good result in 4X.

So I will do my best,

and, well, I will see.

It's a real mountain bike track, 4X.

It's my best track, the best event of the year.

Celine Gros is one of the strongest racers on the circuit,

but she's up against some tough competition,

not least from the Brits.

A lot of tracks are based on power straight out of the gates,

but this is really technical.

So it's one pedal stroke out the gate,

then it's into some really technical jumps.

So it's... Yeah, it's one that suits me a lot more.

Obviously it's a very short race, 4X. It's pretty gladiatorial.

But are you aware of the noise the crowd make?

Because as soon as there's a Brit rider up, they go mental.

They do, they go wild when you arrive at the finish arena as well.

It's...it's... Yeah, it's just crazy. It's amazing.

We're joining the competition for the women's semifinals.

In the first heat, on the far left,

is 28-year-old Steffi Marth from Germany.

Next to her is Britain's top female 4X racer, Katy Curd.

Then there's the Swiss rider, Lucia Oetjen.

And finishing up the quartet in green is another strong Brit -

Suzanne Lacey.

And they're off out the gate, over the first bumps.

And already Katy's taken the lead, but Lucia Oetjen close behind.

Suzanne Lacey currently last.

Katy loves this course at Fort William.

The technical riding really suits her style.

Looking good for her just now.

Heading down towards the rock garden,

and she's still in the lead with Lucia Oetjen second,

Steffi Marth next.

Katy dominating this heat.

This will be a real confidence boost for her.

Battle now is for second place.

It's the top two who go through to the final.

Round the last corner, down to the finish.

Katy is way ahead of her rivals.

Comfortably over the line in first. Who's second, though?

Lucia Oetjen behind her. They'll go through to the final.

Suzanne Lacey and Steffi Marth are out.

So lining up for the second semifinal is a strong rider

from Australia, Caroline Buchanan.

Next to her, a real veteran of the sport,

Anneke Beerten from the Netherlands.

Then there's Helene Fruhwirth from Austria.

And finally Celine Gros from France.

All eyes on the gate. There it is. It's off.

It's Anneke Beerten out first,

but Caroline Buchanan pushed ahead and is now in the lead.

Disappointing start, though, for Celine Gros.

Buchanan's powering ahead over the first humps and bumps.

Getting a good start so important.

But look at this into the rock garden.

Gros had a fantastic ride there. She's now out in front.

She came second here last year, so she's giving it everything today.

Caroline Buchanan still holding on to second place

in a tough battle with Anneke Beerten.

So down into the final stretch,

Celine Gros crosses the line first with Caroline Buchanan second.

So they're through to the finals.

The race is over, though, for Fruhwirth and Beerten.

So this is it, the final of the 2013 women's 4X.

Up at the start gate on the far left,

it's Australia's Caroline Buchanan.

Then our very own Katy Curd.

Next to her, Lucia Oetjen from Switzerland.

And finally, France's Celine Gros.

Shoulder to shoulder out the gate and over the first humps.

And it's Buchanan and Curd in front!

Katy Curd challenging here, but Buchanan's leading it out.

Under pressure from the British rider, though.

These two now neck-and-neck

with Celine Gros and Lucia Oetjen battling it out for third.

So down towards the rock garden, and it's Katy Curd really going for it.

So much skill in this sport - riders need to be both precise and fast.

And this is it, the British girl leading the field

round the last corner, down to the final straight.

She's going to make it!

Yes, Katy Curd has won the Fort William 4X!

Fantastic. Behind her Buchanan, Oetjen third.

But just look what that means to Katy Curd.

My goodness. She looks surprised, but very, very happy.

I feel over the moon. I can't believe it, you know?

I knew Caroline was going to have a really good start,

so I chose second gate just to try and get the outside

to carry some speed. And then...

Yeah, I just can't believe it.

That was an incredible move to get into the front there.

I thought she would leave it a little bit wide -

it's quite hard to go inside, so I just thought I'd go for it.

I had a big drift on just coming into the rocks, but I held on to it.

Winning on a home course must be brilliant.

Oh, it feels so good.

As I say, I've worked so hard for this and it's...

It's been a massive goal of mine, so, just... Yeah, so, so happy.

So, confirmation of those final results.

Fourth place goes to Celine Gros from France

with Switzerland's Lucia Oetjen taking third.

Caroline Buchanan's in second place,

but the winner here today is Katy Curd from Great Britain.

What an amazing result there for Katy Curd.

The first ever British women's winner

of the 4X here in Fort William.

In the men's 4X, we have got the strong Czech contingent

of Prokop and Slavik and Britain's hopeful, Scott Beaumont.

If you can get away from the start leading,

you're in a great position in any 4X race.

If you can sort of dominate and lead from the front,

it's a great place to be.

The most technical part of this track, however,

remains the rock section.

That's where, firstly, you have to negotiate the rocks.

Second, you have three guys around you trying to knock you off,

get past you and everything else they're trying to do.

Thirdly, you want to avoid punctures.

If you can get away from the punctures and not have a mechanical

on your bike going down those rocks, then you should be home and dry.

This is the weekend the world's best riders come to Fort William.

Right now for the men, the Czechs are at the top of the sport,

with Tomas Slavik ranked number one.

But he's never won here.

You know, it's so hard to do a decent run on this track.

The track, the surface is so loose, so you never know.

Sometimes you make the turn at the same speed as you did before

and it's not slipping. But then, just, you're lying on the ground.

So that's a pretty hard thing about this track - to predict

what's going to happen. I've always had bad luck here.

It's one of the best events in our World Cup circuit.

I would love to win on this track

and I would love to be here standing on a first spot.

Last year it didn't work out for me.

We're picking up the action in the men's race for the first semifinal.

On the far left, young British rider Isaac Mundy. Just 19 years old.

He's up against Quentin Derbier from France.

And the two top Czech riders,

Tomas Slavik with last year's winner here at Fort William, Michal Prokop.

And they're off.

Oh, that's not a good start for Mundy, though.

He's trailing behind the other three.

Slavik into the lead with Derbier

and Prokop battling for second.

The fastest get down this course in under 40 seconds.

Tomas Slavik currently going full pelt.

He just loves riding 4X and has built his own track at home.

It's so steep, you almost don't need to pedal.

Just brake and hit the jumps at over 60 kilometres per hour.

Around the last bend and down to the final straight, it's Slavik going to

cross the line first with his fellow Czech, Michael Prokop safely

through in second place. They're through to the finals.

Derbier and Mundy are out.

In the second men's semifinal, another Slavik to watch out for.

This time it's 24-year-old Hannes Slavik from Austria.

Next to him is the Swiss rider, David Graf.

Then it's the British best hope, Scott Beaumont.

Finally, Joseph Vejvoda from Austria.

And they're off.

Once again, neck-and-neck as they head over the first bumps.

Oh, a skid there from Vejvoda as he tries to cross

over to the inside line.

And it's David Graf taking the lead from Scott Beaumont.

Scott looking comfortable in second place.

If he can stay there, he'll be through.

They head into the most technical section of the course -

the rock garden.

Now Scott's been at the forefront of this sport from the very start,

so let's hope his experience pays off today. Round the final bend.

Beaumont's under pressure. No!

Austria's Hannes Slavik cranked up his speed, now ahead of Beaumont.

So crossing the line it's David Graf first,

Hannes Slavik second.

They'll go through to the finals,

but there's no chance of a podium this year for Scott Beaumont.

Disappointing for him.

So in the gate, ready for the final of this year's 4X competition,

are Hannes Slavik from Austria.

Next to him is the Swiss rider David Graf.

Then there's the two Czech rivals, Tomas Slavik and Michal Prokop.

Gate down and they're off.

Very even as they head down.

But Tomas Slavik taking an early lead.

Prokop hard behind on the inside line.

But it's Slavik ahead. Glances behind.

He's never come first here and so wants to take this win.

Such a fierce competitor.

He studied sport and nutrition at university,

but for him, 4X is all about having fun.

"If you don't have fun," he says, "you just don't go fast."

Well, he's certainly going fast today as he comes into that

final bend.

Behind him, Prokop is in second place with Graf in third.

But it's Tomas Slavik over the line first,

and that will mean the world to him.

It was my goal for this season, like winning the Worlds and definitely to

take the win, of course, in the 4X Pro Tour series,

but winning in Fort William it's always, like, twice as big.

So the final results look like this -

in fourth is Hannes Slavik from Austria,

with third place going to Switzerland's David Graf.

Czech rider Michal Prokop comes in second,

but taking the win is Tomas Slavik.

What a fantastic result for him.

When I look back in the day, in the past,

I was just dreaming about winning in Fort William.

This year it finally worked out, and I'm unbelievably stoked.

It means for me, like, another title of a world champion.

You know, the crowd, the track,

everything, it just makes one big thing that I'm really stoked from.

Well, congratulations to Tomas Slavik,

finally topping the podium here at Fort William.

Now we're going to take a short break from the action,

but we're heading just down the road to meet some local film-makers

who have been making something of a name for themselves.

Mountain biking is all about adventure,

but it also offers opportunity for great photography and film-making.

Earlier this year, the annual Fort William Mountain Festival ran

a competition looking for the best movies on offer.

Entries came from all over the world, but some of the best and

most exciting came from young people living right here in Lochaber.

FOLK MUSIC

Fort William is probably the best place for training

in a variety of tracks.

The training part of it is that the weather changes every day

or twice a day or something like that.

It definitely makes it good for all kinds of conditions.

The track also has a bit of everything in it -

from rocks to roots to jumps.

It's pretty ideal.

Downhill At Nevis Range was filmed and edited by Andrew Ashworth.

And this song created by the Loch Lomond-based band

Have Mercy Las Vegas.

In an intensive day, Andrew and Keir Coupland shot the whole film

in one run down the World Cup course.

We brought two cameras with us. We had one that was stationary,

and we'd have one that Andrew would hold that was following me around.

And, em...

We'd do the shots, decide if we liked it or not,

decide if it was a good idea, decide if we could improve it.

Every part of the course he wanted to film,

if he didn't think the shot was quite what it could have been or

if he wanted to do it again to confirm that, I'd push up a

little bit up again, get back to the stuff where I can get my speed up.

If he got a great shot and thought, "Oh, that's good," I thought,

"No, maybe I could have rode that a bit faster."

Or, "Keir, that was good,

"but I didn't quite get the angle I wanted to get it."

So we'd push up, we'd get it

and we'd perfect it to the standard that we thought was good enough.

And then you'd move on.

That would just be the whole process going down the hill.

But I definitely was pretty tired after making it!

Being here, it's just like a massive playground to me. It's just endless.

Endless amounts of trails and mountain biking to do.

Not just any of the trails that we filmed.

There's so much more for any kind of riding that you want to do.

And just being...living here in the outdoor capital of the UK,

it's just so amazing. I absolutely love living here.

I couldn't imagine myself living anywhere else as a mountain biker.

Oh!

That was not as fun.

When you're going downhill, it's like you go fast but you don't hurry.

Because you don't want to get ahead of yourself

when you're riding a downhill bike.

If you get ahead of yourself, especially when you're racing,

it's a big mistake and you'll end up having a slower time.

I get inspired going to the World Cup. And I just...

It makes me want to be a professional mountain biker more than

anything in the world.

This area is not just known for its mountain biking.

For nearly a decade, the Fort William Mountain Festival has

celebrated all aspects of life and the environment here.

This film about the Glencoe Ski Centre shows just how

evocative this landscape is.

The community is the strength on that hill,

and that's what holds it together.

I'm inspired by the fact that it's non-commercialised.

I love the fact that the signs are hand-written.

It's a photographer's dream up there.

It's a living museum, basically.

I just hope that's a lot of it can...

I hope that it can survive in the future

and that a lot of the old equipment that they've got can be placed

into some sort of historic museum as the start

of the British skiing industry, really.

This film, Meall A' Bhuiridh, was made by Misha Somerville,

and the music created by Barry Reid.

The inspiration for the project, however, came from Jen Wilcox.

She started photographing the area in 2009

as part of her degree submission.

This was a period of uncertainty for the ski centre,

as it moved from the threat of closure to a more secure future

under its new owner, Andy Meldrum.

I didn't know the outcome and they didn't know the outcome.

And in 2010...Andy came and bought the centre over,

and they had the most amazing season that they've had in decades.

So it looked stunning for photographic images,

because everything was white and everything

because very illustrative and graphic, actually.

The project turned from looking at an industry that was closing,

I guess, into then looking at its history

and starting to look at the land in a very different way.

And realising what an amazing community is on the hill as well.

-How are you doing?

-I'm OK. How are you?

When I was speaking to ski patrol about the project

I was doing with the art school, they basically said,

"Well, you'd be welcome to use the hut."

And I was very, very grateful for this.

And I...thought at first that I was going to be quite scared

staying in alone but, in actual fact, it was quite amazing.

I used to wake up through the night

and there was deer just surrounding the hut.

And it was quite a special moment on quite a few occasions.

And it was a great base to go up and take photographs on the hill.

The hills and the history,

there's thousands of stories that you could focus on about Glencoe.

Our congratulations to everyone involved in these

award-winning films.

And for more about the Fort William Mountain Festival, follow us

on Facebook and become part of the bigger adventure show community.

Right now, though, it's back to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

Welcome back here to the action in Fort William,

where we will soon be catching up with the women's Downhill World Cup.

But firstly we are going to meet a young Scots rider called

Lachlan Blair.

He is starting his journey as a professional World Cup rider

and he is competing today in the junior part of the World Cup event.

I feel a bit nervous, I suppose.

But I'm going to try and just ignore it.

Just pretend I was just coming up for a practice of a race run.

Just try and ignore the people,

and then enjoy it after I cross the line, hopefully.

Lachlan lives just down the road in Fort William and he's been

a spectator at ever World Cup race since it first came here in 2002.

If it wasn't for his mother, though,

he wouldn't be a competitive biker today.

It was she who brought him here in the first place.

I had to work at the first World Cup in the catering,

because I work at Nevis Range in the winter and they drafted me in.

He was just six.

And after that time he was always keen on jumping through the air

-on his bike.

-SHE LAUGHS

He made a bike that he could use on his trampoline

and do all sorts of tricks and everything.

And then when he got a little bit older, maybe about ten or something,

he saved up and bought a bike that he could use on the downhill track.

CAR HORN BEEPS

Got a cheap second-hand bike, started doing the Scottish series.

And then... Pretty terrible. Like, I was not good.

But since then I've just done little bits of training, and then I got...

I just sort of got more focused about trying to just do a bit better

and a bit better every year.

And then last year I had a fairly good season. I was going quite well.

I was just...

Won my first Scottish race. Placed in the top ten at the nationals.

Didn't know if I was going to get a jersey for the World Cup or not,

but...excitingly enough, I did get a jersey.

So I'm racing, and that's just brilliant.

It's like a wee childhood dream come true getting to go up there.

Just be alongside all the top riders.

It's just really exciting.

And we'll find out how Lachlan gets on later in the programme.

In spite of all the excitement and atmosphere that surrounds downhill

racing, it's not as highly regarded as road biking or cross-country.

This is something that the president of British Cycling,

Brian Cookson, wants to change.

Downhilling in particular is not in the Olympics,

and so it is very difficult for us to channel any funding into it,

because the majority of our funding comes from the lottery

and it's specifically for the Olympic disciplines.

One of the things that I'd really like to try to do is to push for

downhilling to go into the Olympics,

because it's an absolutely fantastic discipline.

Certainly 4X as well is really exciting to watch, and so on.

It's exactly the sort of thing we should be trying to get

into the Olympic Games.

We're seeing a lot of young Scottish riders in particular,

but obviously young British riders too. We do well on a world stage.

I guess the challenge for you guys is to keep encouraging that.

Yeah, absolutely.

That's one more reason why we'd like to see it in the Olympics.

The more medals we can get, the better.

That's going to be a long haul, I think,

to get it in the Olympics, being realistic.

But it's worth pursuing.

Right now, though, it's time for the women's downhill,

and it's the French riders to watch out for this time.

Currently four of the top five are from France.

22-year-old Myriam Nicole is ranked fourth in the world.

She had a nasty crash in the qualifying heat,

but amazingly still managed to finish in seventh place.

My crash... I was hoping to finish in the top five, top four maybe.

You're not wearing body armour.

Is it normal that people are racing without body armour these days?

I don't know if it's normal. But most of the top 80 are not racing with it.

In France we have to, and I can feel like it's not very good,

very comfy to ride with body armour. Like, you cannot move very well.

You're not going too fast.

Heading up the French entry

is two-time world champion Emmeline Ragot.

She came first last year here at Fort William.

The good thing here is, there's a lot of people -

people loving biking and mountain bikes, so it's pretty good.

You can see, it's just the qualies,

there are so many people on the track already, just cheering.

It's full-on, it's cool.

The people in Scotland seem to like and understand mountain biking.

Yeah, you know, they are going out whatever the weather,

if it's raining or not.

They love the sport and that's cool to see.

Last year, Emmeline was trumped at every round except this one

by Britain's Rachel Atherton.

And Rachel is now at the top of the rankings.

Turned up yesterday, first day of the race,

and saw the number one plate on my bike.

And obviously I won the series last year...

You don't really think about it until you turn up and that plate is there.

It is good.

You feel proud, and I guess it gives you confidence that you've done it

before, so hopefully you won't be so far off the mark this year.

How's the track looking this year? It's pretty dry.

It's pretty gnarly. I think it's one of the roughest I've ever seen.

I think for the girls, one of the biggest is the upper body strength.

We're obviously not as strong as the guys and it's so physical.

You're hitting bumps and hitting holes all the way down.

And even though your legs are strong, your upper body is

so tired that you can't hold yourself up to put that power down, and that's

a really difficult thing to try

and be strong for nearly six minutes when you're going that fast.

It's definitely a challenge but it's what we love, isn't it?

And there's another young British rider to watch out for -

Manon Carpenter from South Wales is just 20 years old

and already she's ranked six in the world.

But she had a bit of a set back when she got here.

I've had three practice runs this morning,

I missed practice yesterday.

Unfortunately, I got food poisoning.

So that wasn't the best start to the weekend,

but I've had some runs this morning, trying to get back up to speed.

I feel pretty good. I know this track well.

We had a national three weeks ago, so I don't feel like

I've missed out too much, just trying to get some strength back.

So the race is on for that top spot here in Fort William.

Lining up at the start is French rider Myriam Nicole who had

that painful crash during qualification.

Myriam Nicole, who was the French national champion in 2011,

started off very well,

winning the first race of the French Cup in Lourdes.

Sitting down a little bit in the boardwalk, though.

But carrying lots of speed.

Very smooth...for Myriam

on one of the roughest courses of the year.

Some of the European courses are a little shorter than this.

A very slight looking figure, but phenomenal bike rider.

Very committed.

So Myriam just lining herself up,

trying to remember the line.

Trying to keep as smooth as possible as we head down into the woods.

She was third here last year at Fort William.

Oh, my goodness me!

She's 7.35 up in the second split.

She is absolutely making mincemeat of this course.

This is really, really fast indeed.

The French are always very strong here at Fort William.

The French and the British, for that matter.

All that's left are French riders and British riders.

She looks a bit heavy legged, though. Now she puts the power on.

Now she takes some air.

This will be fast.

She did look a little tired just before the arch there,

but I'm sure she's got enough left in the pipes.

They call her Pompon, Myriam Nicole

This is going to be...

a first place by five seconds!

5:24.29.

Well, that is impressive.

Very, very impressive.

Morgane Charre, ex-world champion or world champion of 2012.

She is now on the Fort William course.

Came seventh here last year.

She had a little bit of a slip and crash on the...

on her qualifying run.

But here she is. No elbow pads.

Flying down this wearing the jersey of the world champion,

as Morgane heads down into the berms.

Morgane is there looking very,

very quick in the upper part of the course.

Oh, just took a big thump there off that rock, though.

You can tell by the tape lining the course that the wind has

picked up here.

Here's Morgane Charre, the world champion.

Told me yesterday that she was surprised to win

the World Championship, but she is a brilliant racer,

there's no doubt about that.

Wearing the rainbow jersey and putting the effort in,

in this bottom section of the course.

She was almost three seconds down in the second split.

But that is big air. She is flying down here.

Won that World Championships back in September.

She's had so many wins. Can she get inside? I don't think she can.

It's 4.24 to beat.

Oh, just outside! 5:25.49.

Second place for the world champion.

Look at that, she's got the shirtsleeves rolled up.

She's hard as nails.

ANNOUNCER SINGS HAPPY BIRTHDAY

And it's her birthday.

Manon Carpenter, the junior world champion in 2011.

Currently ranked sixth as a senior rider.

Had a bit of a bad start to her weekend here.

Came down with food poisoning and missed the first training run.

But at the age of 20, she is THE hope for British women's downhill.

Absolutely flying here in the top part. Very strong, very committed.

She's spent a great deal of the winter working on her upper body

strength and sprint training, gym training,

riding a road bike on the Welsh damp hills, all for this moment.

So as Manon heads down towards the woods, this looks very smooth

and good so far.

And suddenly the atmosphere in Fort William

has changed as Manon Carpenter goes through the second split with

a green light, well inside the time.

This incredible young rider, just 20 years old,

junior world champion in 2011 and truly, truly brilliant she is too.

Oh, she almost made a mistake there though.

That was a very, very heavy landing.

Just keep it clean, Manon.

Just keep it smooth and batter on down to the finish

and let the crowd bring you in.

Wow, what a noise! What a noise!

All eyes on the clock, it's 5:24 to beat.

Oh, she's going to smash it.

She is going to smash it!

Oh, my goodness me.

5:18.98.

Woo!

Yes, indeedy. That is amazing.

That is truly sensational.

More than five seconds inside Myriam Nicole, and that is no mean feat.

This is Emmeline Ragot who won here last year, came first in 2012.

She is the French national champion.

Currently ranked number two in the world.

Emmeline is just starting this at A pace.

She came quite well behind Rachel on the qualifier,

but this is the battle that counts for these two.

She looks very smooth in the upper part of the course.

And the girls taking quite tight lines in some of these corners

rather than slightly the wider male line, which is

much tougher and harder.

In fact, there's a real difference between the top two or three women

and then the following group.

As Emmeline is just flying down there towards the forest.

Emmeline Ragot has been world champion on two occasions,

but I don't think she's going to be champion in Fort William this year.

She's over three seconds down on Manon Carpenter at the second split.

Unless she can do something incredible on the bottom section...

She is smoother than Carpenter on this section, though.

There's no doubt about that.

Carpenter had a big heavy landing before she fell through the arch.

Ragot.

She has struggled a little on World Cup,

but brilliant at World Championships.

Let's see what she's got.

I don't think she'll be inside.

She is not going to be inside Manon Carpenter,

but it could be a podium finish.

It's second. My goodness.

5:20.21 for Emmeline Ragot.

She goes into second place.

Only one person left on the hill,

and that person has never yet won in Fort William,

the current World Cup Champion, Rachel Atherton.

Currently ranked number one in the world.

She is the best downhill rider of her generation - Rachel Atherton.

Absolutely flying on the top part. Just taking a little seat there.

Touches the wall, lines up for this,

so Rachel is off the smooth section into the tough section.

A huge reception from the crowd here.

One of the stars of downhill riding.

She just slipped slightly there, had to put her foot back in the pedal.

Very, very dry today.

You have to get absolutely on line.

CHEERING

Straight down, and Rachel heads towards the forest at speed.

Well, Rachel Atherton has finished second

far too many times for her liking,

but I'll tell you something right now -

she's going to finish first today.

Keep it smooth, keep it simple.

Almost seven-and-a-half seconds inside.

She won the World Cup last year.

She's never ever won at Fort William.

It's something that's really annoyed her through the years.

She's been so close, but my goodness

she is going to be miles ahead.

CHEERING

I think that says it all. Fort William crowd welcome her in.

She could roll it down on a back wheel and still be inside.

My goodness. Look at this!

Well, that is the...

performance of a great, great champion.

Ten seconds inside Manon Carpenter.

And at last for Rachel Atherton!

She wins it.

It's the home race for her.

My goodness me, she's a happy, happy girl. What a great champion.

And confirmation of those results -

Last year's winner Emmeline Ragot from France came in third with

5 minutes 20.22 seconds.

The young British rider Manon Carpenter took second place

in 5:18.99.

And over ten seconds faster with a time of 5:08.85,

winning her first ever World Cup at Fort William,

was Rachel Atherton.

Well, I was nervous.

Straight off the line I was messy and, like, I was slipping.

I thought... All the way down, I thought, "Pull yourself together.

"You've thrown it away."

I just couldn't get my line right, just a little bit off.

Sometimes you have to race over the edge, and luckily I stayed on.

The crowd are, all the way down, shouting your name

and I could really hear it this year.

Normally you blank it out, but this year I was like...

It was really in my head and I was like, "I've got to dig deep here."

I can't believe it.

So what an amazing result there for the British women.

Manon Carpenter in second place, Rachel Atherton in first.

We're going to come back to the men's downhill

in just a few moments,

but before that we're going to go for a wild Scottish walk

with Cameron McNeish.

I'm heading for Garbh Bheinn of Ardgour.

The best way of reaching it is by ferry across Loch Linnhe,

which effectively gives the area

all the romance and excitement

and feeling of isolation of a Scottish island.

There's a number of routes up Garbh Bheinn of Ardgour,

including this one up Glen Ure.

And away back in 1897, this was the route taken

when two stalwarts of the Scottish mountaineering club,

W H Bell and J Brown came to climb the great ridge,

one of the great rock climbs on Garbh Bheinn.

And they've quite a nice description of the walk up the glen here.

This is what they said...

"Bit by bit, Garbh Bheinn creeps into view

"forming by the gradual addition of ridge to choire,

"and crag to buttress.

"One of the boldest pictures of mountain grandeur

"to be seen on the mainland."

But it's the words of another mountaineering pioneer that

I seem to remember best.

In 1904, Charles Inglis Clark described Glen Ure,

"A swampy ground alternating with bog."

So because of that, I think I'll take a different route.

On the entire length of this ridge, you don't

actually have to touch rock at any time. You can walk right up it.

But now and again, if, like me, you like a wee bit of scrambling,

when you get a wee section like this,

you just can't resist a wee climb.

There are three main mountains in the Ardgour area -

Sgurr Dhomhnuill,

Sgurr Ghiubhsachain

and Garbh Bheinn. All three of them are Corbetts.

And although it's not the highest at 885 metres, I think

Garbh Bheinn is by far the finest.

You know, it's an extraordinary thing,

but this area of Ardgour and the neighbouring area of Moidart and

the whole of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula

have some of the wildest areas in Scotland.

And yet they're probably the least trodden hills in Scotland.

And I think that's largely due to this big expanse behind me.

This big expanse of Loch Linnhe.

People look across from the other side and think,

"Oh, that's too remote, too far away."

And yet it's really only a short ferry ride across the loch.

Well, that's me at the top of the Sron a' Garbh Choire Bhig ridge.

And from here it's just a short descent to the Bealloch,

and then a long rocky climb up to the summit.

In misty weather, there's a lot of false summits

and it can be quite difficult navigation wise.

But today it should be a doddle. It's lovely and clear and, in fact,

I can see the summit cairn from here,

perched right on the edge of that cliff in front of me.

You know, there's something about this big mountain that...

almost evokes the spirit of those early

Scottish Mountaineering Club members of the late 19th century.

And particularly Bell and Brown. I can almost see them

wandering up Glen Ure here, looking up the line of the great ridge and

saying, "Let's have a go at that, let's tackle that."

And just working their way up, exploring, navigating,

feeling their way up this 1,000-foot climb to the summit.

Climbers don't seem to do that any more.

Climbing has changed so much and, to me,

we've kind of lost that exploratory feel of the early pioneers.

And that's why I like to come to a mountain like this.

And I look at this big crag here, and I'm pretty convinced

if it was 1,500ft lower, it would be covered in rock-climbing routes.

Here we are at the summit of Garbh Bheinn of Ardgour.

885 metres above the waters of Loch Linnhe.

You know, sometimes you just become convinced that a mountain is

blessing you.

And I feel that this mountain has richly blessed me today.

Oh, and there's points of reference all round.

I can see Ben Nevis, but I can see all the Black Mount

and Glen Creran hills right down to Cruachan.

Over here, Ben More of Mull,

and away behind me in this mass of mountains of Moidart and Noidart,

and I'm looking away up to the western seaboard of Scotland.

It's wonderful.

You know, I've just spent the last four weeks abroad -

three weeks cycling through France from the English Channel to the

Mediterranean, and a week hill walking in Crete in Greece. And...

Well, you know what I'm going to say.

There's nowhere in the world can compete with this kind of landscape.

And it's just wonderful to sit up here and behold it all.

Welcome back to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup from Fort William.

It's almost time for the men's downhill,

but this year there's a separate race for the under-23s,

and a chance for local rider Lachlan Blair to show what he's made of.

My goal for this weekend is to break the five minutes.

My most recent time was a 5:11.

I think that's my best race time I've had here.

As a kid you were standing here cheering people.

How will it be to be on the other side of the fence?

Do you think you'll hear them?

How much difference will that make to your race?

I think it will...it will help.

It'll definitely be noticeable.

Because last year I was up rider marshalling,

so you just ride down, sweep the course.

And even then people are cheering.

And it's really noticeable, it feels like...

It's almost like a wall of sound. It's just crazy.

It makes you want to go fast.

As a local lad, Lachlan knows this course well, but he's

a stranger to the tension only a World Cup competition can bring.

Former world champion Greg Minnaar reckons this is a hard race

to start off with.

-It's one of the toughest we've got.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-What are the rest like?

Not as tough as that. Just carry speed.

Brake early and roll out of those corners fast.

That's where you're going to make your time here.

It's tons of corners and it's all fast.

So the faster you can come out of them,

the better off you'll be.

Don't worry about lines, just go fast. That's what you've got to do.

It's the fastest man wins. It's easy.

So at the top of the course, this is the moment Lachlan's been waiting

for since he watched his very first downhill race as a wee lad of six.

Looking good as he hurtles down this rough track, though.

He's already ridden here on so many occasions

and is aiming for a sub-five minute time.

Never managed it before,

but he says today for him it's actually much smoother than normal.

Oh, what's happened?

Oh, my goodness, looks like he's got a blown tyre!

That is a disaster for this young man.

It's all over for Lachlan - for this year at least.

I was going well at the top split,

and then I must have just hit a rock somewhere.

Tyre went down.

A little bit of loud shouting going on,

but I sort of rolled down from there.

It's something that can happen, obviously,

there's nothing you can do about it. How frustrating,

given all the build up that had come along to Fort William?

Super frustrating, really. I don't know how to explain it.

It's just a bit annoying.

Now it's almost time for the elite to face their high speed charge

down the mountain.

With a strong field from around the world, the men's competition

is set to be as fierce as ever.

I really enjoy racing here.

It's real physical and pretty much the whole way down

you can hear fans cheering. And then coming into that finish...

The finish line jump is amazing, it's...

I don't know, it's probably one of the best feelings I've ever had,

just everyone screaming at you and cheering you on,

making you go faster. It's cool.

Brook MacDonald from New Zealand is ranked sixth,

but today just fractions of a second separate the fastest riders.

Currently fourth in the world is Steve Smith from Canada.

Those margins are tight, and really it's anybody's game to win.

It's just having that perfect run.

It's not just being the most ballsy rider,

it's a list of everything you've got to put together.

The list is massive, and some of the guys in the top five have had

that figured out for years, so they get here prepared.

I feel like I'm just getting there now,

and hopefully can continue being in that top five.

Steve Smith and Brook MacDonald are up against some strong

British competition, including former world champion,

22-year-old Danny Hart.

He's come in second here at Fort William,

but never yet managed the top spot.

To win my first World Cup here in Fort William would be

like a dream come true.

I hope I can get that monkey off my back.

In terms of the UCI Tour,

this is really the home event for British riders.

Is there a real sense of, kind of, feeling you are on home territory?

Well, yeah. I have all my family here. I stop in the camper.

It's just like we used to do Nationals when I was little, so...

It's just like that, but with a bigger race.

Leading the field, not just for the Brits but currently

at the top of the world rankings, is another of the Atherton clan - Gee.

So what's the secret of his success?

You really have to attack from the word go,

but at the same time you do have to be able to have that energy to

ride the technical stuff with the same speed you were in practice

and in training.

You have to make sure you really can link all the sections together.

If you're stalling and, kind of,

doing it in a too stop-start fashion, then you waste a lot of energy,

so it's all about keeping it smooth, keeping that speed up

and kind of carrying momentum

through the whole course, top to bottom.

The Brits are at the forefront of downhill mountain biking,

but Scottish riders haven't recently done too well on the world scene.

But that could be about to change.

Another young biker, Greg Williamson from Inverness,

has just joined one of the big teams.

It's just a bit of a dream come true and I'm really happy to be here

at my home race at Fort William with a new team.

After racing the last few years privately,

it's really pretty special now for me, so I'm excited.

I believe you have other reasons to celebrate today as well.

Absolutely, yeah.

It's my 21st birthday today, so I couldn't ask for much more, really.

And as Greg Williamson lines up for the start of his run,

it's a chance for him to shine here at Fort William.

So Greg Williamson,

a local boy training here all the time, knows the course very well.

Done pretty well here to get into the top 25 in qualifying.

Oh, just a hand slipped off the brake there.

But Greg's looking good.

Looking very good indeed.

This is fantastic as he comes towards the Scotland Arch.

Greg's got the fastest time so far.

It's a great performance from this young rider from Inverness.

He really loves riding here

and just listen to the crowd willing him down the slope.

They know they're watching the new star of Scottish downhill cycling.

Crosses the line. 4:42.1

and that puts him into first place.

Right now he's the new leader of the UCI World Cup.

But, of course, the faster riders are still to come.

On the course now is the national champion of New Zealand -

Brook MacDonald.

Ranked sixth in the world, came third here in 2011.

Absolutely loves it.

One of his favourite courses. Did very well.

Placed in the top six during qualification.

Tucking down there, trying to keep out of the wind,

trying to get the most out of this upper part of the course.

So Brook is flying through the top part of this,

just needs to pick the bike up over there.

Oh, just lost the front end, came a bit high up.

Recovered very, very quickly.

Very lively-looking suspension on his bike as he comes

down into the trees.

Brook MacDonald looking pretty fast.

Seven-tenths of a second behind Sam Hill. Absolutely flying.

They call him The Bulldog. And my goodness, he's got the head

down, he's got the shoulders up, and he's putting on the power.

This New Zealander, 22 years old, sixth in the world ranking,

only been racing for three years.

The former junior world champion is looking like

he's putting on the afterburners as he flies down here.

Racing for Trek World Racing Team.

It's going to be tight.

Oh, he's inside! What a ride!

It wasn't tight, it was 4:37.

That is incredible.

What a run from Brook MacDonald.

He said his favourite thing about Fort William was

coming into the arena and hearing the crowd of spectators screaming.

And he certainly heard it there as he crossed the line in first place.

Canadian Steve Smith, ranked fourth in the world and absolutely

loves the roughest, gnarliest, bumpy courses on the circuit.

Flying down here at incredible speed.

It's all about the commitment.

So as Steve comes down into the rock garden off the wood section,

he is pretty much on line. Yes, he took a nice outside line there.

Looks very smooth so far.

Did well in qualification to come up here in the top ten.

It's a technical sport, you've got to remember the line.

As Steve skips down over the rocks, it's a good smooth ride

so far in the top here.

Just outside...

0.47 outside the time of Brook MacDonald.

We saw the work that Brook MacDonald put in at the bottom section

of the course. Can the Canadian do the same?

He will hear the crowd as he approaches the arch.

And they will draw him in all the way to the line.

But has he'd done enough?

Brook MacDonald really was pedalling as hard as he possibly could,

and so is Smith.

It's going to be close.

Oh! Just outside.

4:38.07.

Well, that was another very, very impressive ride from the Canadian.

Stevie Smith in second and Brook MacDonald in the lead.

Chasing Brook MacDonald, who currently sits in the hot seat,

is Sam Blenkinsop, another rider from New Zealand.

Ranked 18 in the word.

Onto the boardwalk. Pedalling hard.

So Sam, who is a strong favourite here with the crowd...

Very good technical rider.

Lacks a little bit of the sprinting speed maybe on the lower part

of the course, but very, very good here.

Taking a tight line there.

And as Sam drops down into the toughest

and biggest of the rock drops, he's looking pretty good.

A little bit wobbly over that section,

but down into the trees with confidence.

Sam Blenkinsop looking good, four-tenths of a second down.

Won the World Cup in 2008 in Schladming.

Never won here at Fort William, though.

In fact, we've never had a New Zealander

at the top of the podium at Fort William ever,

but Sam Blenkinsop is giving himself

a brilliant, brilliant chance.

Oh, my goodness.

He puts a bit of style on as well towards the end.

Can he make up that half second? Right, Sam, stop showing off.

Just get to the line. It's very close!

Oh! Finishes in third.

Now, had he not done the big tailwhip at the top,

maybe he would have been on the top of the podium there.

But that is still very, very impressive indeed.

And we only have two more riders, and they're both British -

Danny Hart and Gee Atherton.

On the course now

is the number one ranked rider in the world at the moment -

Britain's Gee Atherton.

The 2010 Downhill World Cup champion has won 4X, downhill, BMX.

He is truly one of the best riders in the world.

He placed third in Fort William in 2012.

Gee is going to fly down this.

And it's all about the margins at the top end of this game.

One of Gee's extraordinary talents is the ability to push through pain.

He had some horrible crashes last year and has recovered from injury

well to be very competitive again here in Fort William.

Gee Atherton, one of the most progressive mountain bikers

of all time, won his first Downhill World Cup in 2004,

aged just 19.

He's finished in the top five of the Downhill World Series

every year since.

He's been Downhill World Champion, Downhill World Cup Series Champion,

Downhill European Champion and twice British National Champion.

And he is miles inside Brook MacDonald at the second split.

He loves coming to Fort William, it's his home track.

Remember, his sister won here for the first time ever earlier today.

Can it be an Atherton at the top of the podium in the men's

downhill and the women's downhill?

RAUCOUS CHEERING

That noise says it all. They love him here at Fort William.

He is such a brilliant competitor, and he's powering on.

Look at that time.

Oh, my goodness me!

4:36.71.

Absolutely smashed it there.

The top section of the course he was loose

because he was trying to go so fast.

The middle section he kept it together, kept the power on.

And over the bottom section there was nobody to touch him.

That is an astonishing ride.

First place for Gee Atherton, and only one man can beat him.

And that man is Danny Hart.

So finally relieved from the waiting, it's Danny Hart.

Ex-world champion from 2011

and second place rider here last year.

Absolutely flies through this.

A typical training week - he's on his bike, in the gym,

downhill, now riding motocross.

Danny Hart is everything on two wheels.

So Danny is chasing this.

Wanting to improve on his second, a nice outside line.

Only a couple of riders have taken that line. So here is Danny.

Oh, just got slightly snagged up there on that corner.

But looking good.

Danny just lost it a little bit there as he comes down

into the line into the trees.

Well, I think it's fair to say that Danny Hart is working

incredibly hard to beat Gee Atherton.

My goodness.

Such an incredible performer. Won the World Championship in 2011.

Oh, he came out the forest section there

and did a little wheelie over the tabletop there!

He is 1.2 down at the second split, but he has got the power,

he has got the fitness, and he has certainly got the spirit.

He's a man who loves to win.

Gee Atherton does too, but this guy does not give up.

He's putting it on.

Let's have a look and see what they're saying.

They're saying, "Welcome to Fort William, Danny Hart.

"Let's see what you can do."

And what he's doing is working incredibly hard. Put the power on.

Is it enough?

Oh, my goodness. It's not.

He lost a lot in the second half of the course.

The World Cup winner, though, for this year is Gee Atherton.

It's an Atherton at the top of the podium for the men's

and the women's race, and that's how much it means to him.

Big hugs there for Gee Atherton, with a smile as wide as Lochaber.

And there's Rachel giving him a big hug as well.

Brother and sister - champions.

-HE LAUGHS

-That's a lovely sight.

And that's what the fans at Fort William wanted to see.

So, the final results looked like this -

the young Scottish rider Greg Williamson had a fantastic run,

coming in 10th with a time of 4 minutes 42.13.

Danny Hart managed seventh place with 4:39.36.

In third, Canadian Steve Smith's time was 4:38.07.

New Zealand's Brook MacDonald took second in 4:37.85.

But out in the lead with at time of 4:36.71 was Britain's Gee Atherton.

I'm stuck for words.

An absolutely amazing day. It doesn't get better than this.

Rachel winning as well. Just a great day for the family.

Yeah, incredible. I mean, Rachel's been riding well all week.

I was listening to her run earlier.

I didn't come and watch, I was trying to stay focused.

To go 1, 1, with my sister is incredible.

What does it mean to you

to have another top of the podium at Fort William?

It means the world.

It's one of the biggest races on the calendar for me.

In front of a home crowd, my family, all my friends here.

The crowd have been amazing. It's made the event for me, for sure.

Well, what a weekend it's been for the Atherton family.

Congratulations to them.

But that brings us to the end of The Adventure Show,

and we're taking a little break for the summer.

But we'll be back in the autumn

with all the best adventure sports in Scotland.

Thank you very much for your company,

have a great summer and we'll see you later. Bye for now.

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