The unforgiving mountain of Aonach Mòr gives preference to no one. A true test of ability; riders are forced to put themselves on the line for a taste of victory.

There’s nothing quite like dropping into this screaming amphitheater of race fans. Year after year, Fort William delivers.

Valentina Holl finished a full 29 seconds ahead of her competition in the Junior Women’s field, with a time that would have landed her in 4th in the Elite category. Two races in and already leaving a mark on the scene!

Ever the showman, Kade Edwards was the man to watch on the bottom jumps. 3rd place for the Trek Factory Racing rider, but you know he wants more.

Sam Hill, Troy Brosnan, Jack Moir; Australia has a habit of raising blazing fast juniors. Kye A’Hern captured the win in Fort William which inserts himself firmly into the title chase.

A snapped chain out the gate left Rachel Atherton in a state of panic, but like the true competitor she is, she fought on, and despite crashing further down, would finish an incredible 3rd place, keeping her title hopes alive.

A crash would put a stop to Myriam Nicole claiming back to back wins to start the season, but she retains the leaders jersey heading into Leogang next week.

Every British rider dreams of one day winning the Fort William World Cup. Another win ticked off the bucket list for Tahnee Seagrave.

A mechanical would cost him any hope of hometown glory but a 5th in qualifying won’t go unnoticed. Greg Williamson is back on form and looking ahead to the races to come.

Finn Iles is making progress in the big leagues; 19th place and lessons learned.

Trek Factory Racing’s Charlie Hatton had a few rough races to start the season but in Fort William he returned to the top 20, where he belongs.

EWS star Martin Maes hoped he would qualify for this race. He finished 10th.. An incredible feat from the Belgian.

A constant threat on this track, Danny showed impressive speed through qualifying but finals didn’t pan out the way he had hoped. 6th placed for the man from Redcar.

After a nightmare start to the season Loic Bruni returned to Fort William in style, finishing an impressive 5th place with very little bike time since the opener. Look for him to get stronger as the season progresses.

With a point to prove Troy Brosnan pushed hard come race day, fighting hard for the win and eventually finishing in a solid 3rd place. Watch out Leogang.

As his fellow team mates took their share of bad luck, Loris Vergier did the Syndicate proud, finishing in an incredible second place.

What could have been.. Luca Shaw is wise beyond his years and after qualifying 1st the day prior, many thought the North Carolina native was set to take his first World Cup victory. An untimely puncture would take ultimately derail the story, but Shaw knows he has it now, and there are plenty more races to come..

Photos: Sven Martin