FORT WILLIAM WORLD CUP ONLY DAYS AWAY

The countdown to Fort William is accelerating and in our final special preview feature before the big event, we spoke to a number of star riders at Catton Hall two weeks ago about how their form was for the big one -- The Fort William World Cup.

All round, there is going to be plenty of entertainment at Fort William. Like the Siemens Mobile X Lake Jump at 8pm on Friday the 30th of May. This will be the first ever UK appearance of the Siemens Mobile X Lake Jump (in the Loch) and is a fantastic spectacle and best of all -- it can by enjoyed by everyone free of charge.

Then there's the Party in the Fort Live Concert in Fort William High Street on Saturday 31st May. Local band and mountain bike followers Carson will kick off on the World Cup stage at 9pm followed by the Peatbog Faeries at 10pm. An additional catering tent will be set up at Lochaber College (near Macdonalds) on Saturday evening from 7.30pm to cater for the numbers in town. Here you will be able to eat, drink and watch the big screen showing the new films of the year - �Kranked 5 World Tour�, �Natural Selection� and the official premiere of �Statement�. Local restaurants and bars are also gearing up for more people and longer opening hours.

But it is of course the racing that will take centre stage over the two days, cross country, downhill and 4-Cross.

BRITISH HOPES IN THE CROSS COUNTRY: LIAM KILLEEN
In the cross country race, one of the British stars is sure to be Liam Killeen, Commonwealth Games Bronze medallist at last years Games at Manchester. At Catton Hall he won the race easily a day after he had finished 5th in the 2nd round of the European Cup held in Bad Wildbad, Germany.

After having been first Espoir in the first round of the Europa cup in Belgium, he said when asked about the German round, �I was 5th in the main race, and second Espoir behind Fumic. It was good field, the Germans, Australians, Italians, a strong field on a tough course.� After Germany, he still leads the Espoirs category in the Europa cup with three more events but as they clash with a few other races, Liam is not sure how many he�ll be doing.

Having completed that race in Germany, he flew home and was at Catton Hall the next day for the 2nd round of the NPS series. Talking before the race, he said �today I�m riding as preparation for Fort William, to get a bit of an overload� he explained. �The form is good. On the mountain bike I am feeling strong. I�m hoping to taper down and pull out a good result in Fort William�.

Prior to St Wendle where he was 22nd, he said �top 20 would be great, top 10 is possible.� He went close to getting the top 20, finishing 22nd but not having a good grid position cost him in the end. But, having finished 22nd, his gridding for Fort William will be much better and just like at Manchester 2002, Liam is one of a number of Brits looking to do well there.

His main aim is the Espoirs world championships (MTB/XC) in September. �I�m feeling confident for a medal.� He said but that is just one of two goals. The other is Fort William this weekend of course.

�Its going to be good racing in front of a home crowd� he said when asked about Fort William. �I�ll see the course on the Wednesday before and that�s going to be enough time. There will be more climbing than the normal English courses but then its more important to have the form because then you can race hard on any course�.

Within minutes of having won at Catton Hall he said when asked about how his second race in two days felt, �It was all new too me because I have never done two mountain bike races before in two days. I didn�t know how the legs would feel. I got held up at the start because I wasn�t gridded and there was a bit of a bottle neck on the first few corners but I didn�t panic. I just rode hard tempo. When I knew I was catching the leaders, I felt confident.�

�I was pretty comfortable really. I think racing in Europe for the past few weeks has brought the form up. There is more to come because I haven�t peaked yet. Fort William and the World Champs are pretty big goals for me.�

On the subject of gridding at Fort William, he said �gridding is always a pain because my ranking has not been too good but if you can make the front group, it should be good. That�s the goal, get a good start at Fort William and give it full gas.�

After a winter training with two of the world�s best stars, Roland Green and Ryder Hesjedal, Liam is well prepared for the challenge of Fort William and with a large crowd behind him, who knows, a top 10 may well be within his grasp.

THE MANAGER'S VERDICT: The Great Britain MTB team manager, Simon Burney has this to say about Liam's ride at Catton Hall: �Yesterday was a really good ride and to travel back and do that shows he�s in good shape which is really encouraging coming into two World cups. Until the last few weekends, he�s been struggling with a few little injuries and his form wasn�t exceptional, but if you look at the guys yesterday and the time gaps, he�s looking at a top 15, top 20 ride for the World cups which would be ideal.�

 

GREAT BRITAIN MTB TEAM FEATURES Neil Walker: more > Nick Craig: more > Oli Beckingsale > more Team Photos > more