How Scotland became home to the mountain biking World Cup

Around 200 top mountain bikers from around the globe will descend on Fort William next weekend to take part in what has been described as one of the world's toughest downhill races.

This is the fourteenth year the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Mountain Bike World Cup has been held on the slopes of Aonach Mor in the Nevis Range resort, which is usually more associated with winter skiing.

Over that time, it has attracted more than a quarter of a million visitors and brought an estimated boost of £30 million to the local economy.

Up to 20,000 visitors are expected to attend this year’s competition, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday (June 4-5) and will also feature entertainment such as performances from renowned Scottish stunt rider Danny MacAskill.

Peter MacFarlane, managing director of Nevis Range, said: “Around 20 years ago, we started looking at ways of generating business, rather than just being a ski area.

“Mountain biking – and downhill biking – were just beginning to grow in popularity, so we looked at the possibility of building a track and using the resort’s gondola to access it. It just grew from there.

“Now it is firmly on the map for mountain biking, there are only two or three places that get the World Cup every year as they like to move it around, but we are quite fortunate in that they keep coming back to us every year.

“At the moment we are on year one of a three-year rolling agreement, so hopefully the event is going to continue to be a major part of the calendar.”

He added: “It has a big economic impact for the Lochaber area in general, there is not a bed available over the weekend, the restaurants are full and the pubs are full at night. It is one of the busiest weekends of the summer for Fort William.”

MacFarlane also pointed out the 2.8km track – which descends more than 500m and has obstacles such as rock slabs and jumps - is open during the summer to ‘ordinary’ riders who want to try it out, although safety equipment and a suitable bike are required.

He added: “The Monday after the World Cup is one of our busiest days with people who come to the event and then stay on and want to try it out.

“There are not many places where you can watch a world class event and then have a go on the track itself – you wouldn’t be able to go to Silverstone the day after the British Grand Prix and drive around in a Formula One car, but you can do that with a mountain bike at Fort William after the World Cup.”

The competitors in this year’s event will include homegrown talent such as Greg Williamson, 22, from Fort William, who turned professional three years ago and is now ranked 11th in the world.

He is hoping to achieve a place on the podium having recorded sixth place in his last World Cup race in Cairns, Australia.

"It will be great to race in front of a home crowd,” he said. “The scenery at Fort William is pretty unique.”

Rona Strivens, 18, who is based in the Borders but originally from Kingussie, will be competing in the women’s downhill section.

She said while the sport is dominated by men, more women are now becoming interested in competing with the introduction of specific categories for female juniors in some races.

However the sport does not come without risks, despite the use of safety equipment, such as full face helmets.

She said: “I have had few pretty bad concussions and managed to break my nose at the start of this year, which is not the easiest thing to do with a full face helmet on - and I am recovering from injury to the ligaments in my ankle at the moment.”

But she added: “It is just such an exciting sport and you get to push yourself to your limits. It is amazing to be competing in home territory - half of the crowd know your name so it is a completely different atmosphere to other races.”