World Champs are always full of drama, the same was to be expected on one of the most legendary circuits. Fort William hosted a great event, but despite the fighting spirits we didn’t leave it victorious.
Glasgow and Scotland host the biggest cycling World Championships of all times, with Fort William hosting the downhill events on Friday & Saturday. We had Léona Pierrini and Ben Zwar on the race, representing France and Sweden. Jure Žabjek is still in the recovery process and didn’t travel to Scotland.
Our race report must start with the massive crash on Thursday practice session. Léona was on her last run of the day when he hit the ground head first on the second table top on the motorway. She can’t really tell what when wrong as she already jumped the feature in in the previous runs, she over jumped it and went too steep onto the landing. This is where so many riders got hurt, and the jump was reshaped later in the day.
Medical team on side immediately came to Léona and gave her first aid, took her to the bottom and then to the hospital. At the end of the day things looked much better for her as initially thought, and left the hospital with “only” big cuts on her head. Healing process is fast and Léona is making a fast recovery!
Ben on the other hand had a really good week all the way to the finals. He quickly became friendly with the significantly updated track at Fort William, felt good on the bike and had fast times to confirm the speed. Ben finished the qualies just behind top-30, but knew he made a big mistake and had more time to gain elsewhere. But then came the finals…
Ben was one of the unluckiest riders in the finals as he had to go on the track after the heavy rain start hitting on the Nevis Range. It was impossible to challenge the then fastest times, especially with a crash.
“World Champs done for 2023! We retired to a polished Fort William. The weekend for myself was going very well, got up to pace in practice and was feeling confident for finals! While warming up the weather rolled in and we had a mudder! Rode well through the top and then had a crash coming into the woods, very frustrating, felt like a good opportunity that slip away! Happy to be healthy leaving this weekend and ready for round #4.” – Ben Zwar
We love mountain biking also because it’s an outdoor sport, but sometimes that also kicks you in the ass… And this year the nature did that with a very big shoe. No glory for us on the World Champs, but we also shouldn’t forget that we’re not even at the halfway through the season and the spirits are high!
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Photos by Keith Valentine & Grega Stopar
