Troy Brosnan (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) and Valentina Höll (YT Mob) are the fastest on the hill in semi-finals at the first UCI Downhill World Cup of the season, but tomorrow’s finals are far from a foregone conclusion. Finn Iles and Loïc Bruni (Specialized Factory Racing) were hundredths of a second off of the top spot in the Men’s Elite semi-final, while Tahnée Seagrave (Canyon CLLCTV FMD) looks the most likely to challenge Höll in the Women’s Elite.

The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series rolled into Fort William, Scotland this weekend for the first Downhill UCI World Cup of the season. Today (Saturday, May 4) saw all 280 athletes in action as the Juniors completed qualification, while the Elite riders were whittled down further still after taking part in qualifiers and semi-finals. As well as sorting who made it through to tomorrow’s (Sunday, May 5) finals, it also gave fans an idea of who’s in form at the start of the new season.

In the Women’s Elite, Tahnée Seagrave (Canyon CLLCTV FMD) looked back to her best in the opening round of this season’s UCI Downhill (DHI) World Cup in Fort William, Scotland, laying down two consistent runs in the Women’s Elite qualifiers and semi-finals to make her the rider most likely to challenge Valentina Höll (YT Mob) for the top spot in Sunday’s finals.

The British 8-time UCI World Cup winner has history on the Nevis Range course, winning in front of an adoring home crowd in 2018. But after a disappointing 2023 season by her own high standards, it looked like the 28-year-old has had a strong winter after coming first and second in the Women’s Elite qualifiers and semi-finals respectively.

It was Höll who prevented Seagrave from completing a clean sweep, the reigning UCI Downhill World Champion and last season’s UCI DHI World Cup overall winner setting a blistering time in the Women’s Elite semi-finals that had the fastest splits in three out of four sectors. The 22-year-old silenced any doubters after her switch from Trek to YT during the winter, showing that she was already up to speed on her new race rig. The Austrian will be last down the mountain in Sunday’s final, so expect the race to go to the wire.

Speaking after her win in the Women’s Elite semi-finals, Valentina Höll said: “I crashed in qualis, so I knew there was more in the tank. My time is not that great so let’s just see. Tomorrow is race day so full focus on this.”

Tahnée Seagrave said: “Doing two runs back-to-back on a track like Fort William takes a lot out of you but I was super stoked to see my time be up there as the fastest. That’s where I want to be and I want to be a threat all year so it’s looking good.”

In the Men’s Elite, Loïc Bruni (Specialized Factory Racing) displayed why he is the reigning UCI Downhill World Cup overall champion, going fastest in all sectors during the Men’s Elite qualifying round and putting a whopping 3.293 seconds between himself and his teammate Finn Iles (Specialized Factory Racing), who finished second. 

The Frenchman wasn’t able to make it two from two in the Men’s semi-finals though and had to settle for third after Troy Brosnan (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) and Iles edged him in a contest where they could only be separated by hundredths of a second.

Of all three, Brosnan is the only one to have tasted victory in Fort William before, having won on the course back in 2014. And as the last man down the hill in Sunday’s final, it will be interesting to see if he can dig into that experience from a decade ago to edge it again.

Speaking after his win in the Men’s Elite semi-finals, Troy Brosnan said: “The track at the top is a lot better, it’s a lot grippier but there was a bit of wind in the face, so I just had to push. I’m super stoked to come down in first in semis and top four in qualies.”

Finn Iles said: “I was really smooth up top, but I had a big mistake in the woods and other than that it was a nice fast run. I’m happy, I know that it’s here. First race of the year and to go second, there’s a really good feeling. I think tomorrow I’m going to lay it all on the line.”

The fastest Brit across the men’s qualifying rounds was Greg Williamson (Madison Saracen Factory Team), while fan favourite Reece Wilson (Trek Factory Racing Gravity) made his long-awaited return after two years plagued by injury and managed a respectable 21^st in qualifying and 24^th in the semi-finals. Finally, the G.O.A.T and seven-time Fort William UCI World Cup winner Greg Minnaar (Norco Factory Racing) showed some initial promise on his new Norco, piloting it to 9^th in the men’s qualifying, although the four-time UCI World Champion has left himself with a lot to do after 29^th in the semi-finals.

The other highlights from Saturday’s qualifying were the Men’s and Women’s Junior, where we saw some of the most exciting up-and-coming downhill talent take to the iconic Nevis Range course. In the Women’s Junior, reigning UCI Downhill Junior World Champion Erice Van Leuven (Commencal Les Orres) edged Scottish rising star Heather Wilson (Muc-Off Young Guns). In the Men’s Junior, Daniel Parfitt (BNC Racing) put his local knowledge to good use, crossing the line first in a time that would have seen him score 7^th in the Elite Men’s semi-final qualifiers.

Before qualifying, Fort William hosted a Mini-DH event, where kids in the U12, U14, and U16 categories showcased their talents and competed in a friendly environment, promoting the spirit of sport and healthy competition within our community. The future stars of Downhill were joined by Maree Todd, the Scottish Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, who did a tour of the event village site and Nevis Range and took part in the medal ceremony for the Mini-DH event.

The action gets underway with the Women Junior and Men Junior Finals from 11:30 BST (CET-1) tomorrow live on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel, while the Elite finals TV broadcast starts at 13:15 BST.