A self-imposed social media blackout has come to an end for Tahnee Seagrave after she conquered Fort William for the very first time.
Despite enduring a turbulent build-up, finishing more than nine seconds off the pace in qualifying, the 22-year-old stormed to Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup success in Scotland.
Seagrave produced a stunning ride and topped the podium more than eight seconds ahead of Myriam Nicole, the winner of the first Downhill event of the season in Losinj, Croatia, in April.
Now, she might just allow herself to send a tweet or two.
“I was crying all morning after [Saturday’s qualifying]. I had a decent run and didn’t really perform to what I expected," she said.
“I’ve had the worst week I possibly could. I’ve turned my phone off, shut off social media and this morning was horrible.
“In previous years, I was out for a year with a dislocated elbow and I’ve had horrible injuries in the past.
“To finally just get down in one piece was going to be the goal, let along taking the win - that’s just a bonus.
“I never thought it would happen – honestly.”
Seagrave dominates as Atherton roars back
Fellow Brit Katy Curd was the seventh rider of the day to hit the course and thrust herself into contention early on with a fine time of 5:25.459.
However, as the competition reached the business end, Seagrave came to the fore.
Third-last to begin her descent, the Transition Bikes / Muc-Off Factory Racing rider exploded out of the blocks and by the second split, was nearly eight seconds ahead of previous leader Tracey Hannah.
Seagrave continued to bolster her advantage and ultimately set the benchmark, clocking in at 5:10.960.
France’s Nicole was next out but her hopes of reeling in Seagrave were wrecked by a crash, although she recovered sufficiently to still take second in 5:19.211.
Britain's Rachel Atherton – the final rider of the day – had been fastest in qualifying on Saturday but she suffered both a snapped chain out of the start and then a tumble to leave her almost eight seconds off the pace on the third split.
But the five-time overall World Cup winner showed off her miraculous powers of recovery and somehow salvaged matters to take third in 5:20.016.
Wilson makes his mark
In the men’s elite competition, Scotland’s Reece Wilson shone at his home event as he racked up a sublime fourth-placed finish.
Heading out in the early stages, he posted an excellent 4:35.775 and it took some time for him to be ousted from the top of the leaderboard by eventual winner Amaury Pierron (4:34.452), Loris Vergier and Troy Brosnan.
Danny Hart, another British rider, was the penultimate competitor to head downhill but he came in sixth in 4:37.209, narrowly in front of Matt Walker (4:37.612) in seventh.
Charlie Hatton (4:38.384), Gee Atherton (4:39.346) and Laurie Greenland (4:39.657) were the next-best Brits in 14th, 15th and 16th respectively.
In the Junior Men’s category, Kade Edwards (4:45.073) and Jamie Edmondson (4:48.037) took third and fourth respectively, the former ending the day third in the series standings.
