It was also a big weekend for cycling news, as Froome won the Dauphine, beating Contador and making him (if Nibali follows through on not riding) the favourite for the Tour de France.
In London the weather helped the World Naked Bike ride go off spectacularly (I’ll leave you to make your own internet searches for images if you want to).
At least one more rider tested positive for a banned substance as the bigger race put more pressure on and mean that the testing is upped.
And then there was Fort William.
The Scottish venue once again didn’t fail to deliver as gorgeous sunshine was beating down on the mountain and on the riders rolling out in their new team colours and on new bikes. This included the Atherton’s new aluminium GT Fury, which was launched to the press at the event. It’s fair to say the bike’s debut was pretty decent.
The women’s race was looking like Rachel Atherton’s to lose as she qualified well up on the rest of the field, however she’s never managed to win at Fort William, so the pressure was on as she waited to come down the hill. Her run this time was untroubled by problems and she finished over 10 seconds faster than Manon Carpenter in second. The relief and excitement on her face was clear to see.
The men’s race looked interesting from the start as Minnaar and, most notably, Gwin failed to qualify well. Cedric Gracia was back and early on the start list, so happy to style it up on the huge lower section jumps and wave to the crowd who were as pleased as him to see him back from horrific injury. With Gwin fading into a position out of the top ten leaving people asking questions about his off season and new team and bike, it was looking to be set up for a thrilling climax. Sam Hill looked back to old form and put in an early good time like we’ve not seen for a couple of seasons. But it was Gee Atherton’s run that really lit the mountain up. He was pinned and powerful and looking to take his first World Cup win since 2010. His time smashed him to the hotseat with only Danny Hart to go. Hart looked to have crashed off-camera and with a good first split he was down in a non podium spot by the end, leaving Gee with the win and the start of some serious Atherton family celebrations.
Does not get much better than winning a World Cup alongside your brother....unless its winning… instagram.com/p/aW0-CmAvex/
— rachel atherton (@rachelatherton) June 9, 2013
An awesome start to the World Cup series, that left me wishing I’d trusted my instincts and put some money on Rachel, but it’s all set up again for Val di Sole on Sunday. The podium was rounded out by Steve Smith and Brook MacDonald, possibly showing a continuation of the new guard form the end of last season.
For my part I started my weekend early on Saturday and was riding at Cwm Carn by 10. I had tried to get a friend along for a more social ride, but with him held up with carpet and kitchen measuring and the sun streaming down on a dusty and dry (for the first time in what seems like forever) trail I decided to give it a blast at full pace.
The bike felt dialled, the extra riding I’ve been doing made me feel stronger for longer and I was utterly chuffed with my hour and ten minutes smashing round with a massive grin on my face and a gloating text to send back at the carpark. Flying the last downhill with dusty, sweaty arms and the buzz of a tyre gripping the right amount and then the silence as you hit the drop followed by a landing so soft you think you must have a flat just stays with you for the next week.
However, this weekend there would be more to come.
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