Frenchman Amaury Pierron surprisingly won the World Cup in Fort William in 2018. This time he surprises again - with an incredible ride but also with an almost fall shortly before the finish. He was already looking at the scoreboard, says Pierron, who then jumps off incorrectly and flies front-heavy towards the finish line. Landing on the front wheel, he just about managed to hold on to the bike and get it back on course for victory.

Australian Troy Brosnan also sets a great time on the finish line - almost four seconds faster than Canadian Finn Iles. However, he is pushed out of third place by qualifying winner Loris Vergier, but achieves his best result in the World Cup with fourth place ahead of Danny Hart.


The Swiss ride a promising qualification the day before. Noel Niederberger and Basil Weber finish 23rd and 24th, but things don't go quite as planned in the race. Basil Weber loses control in a technically demanding and slippery section and crashes backwards into the berm. He first has to collect himself and is then able to finish his run, albeit in last place. He says: "My back is pretty bruised but everything else about me is still intact."

Noel Niederberger cannot match his performance in qualifying. "I didn't ride relaxed and had a few braking errors. But after my mental problems last year, it's still good, I had a generally good race weekend," says Niederberger, who finished a solid 41st. Four places behind him was the next Swiss rider, Lutz Weber.

Amaury Pierron wins Fort William for the second time. Photo ©Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

Atherton turns the tables - Hoffmann and Balanche surprise

In the women's World Cup race, World Champion Rachel Atherton turns the tables after qualifying. She wins by just over a second ahead of qualifying winner Tracey Hannah. Nina Hoffmann surprises with third place - a result that no German has achieved for ages. Camille Balanche was the best Swiss athlete in seventh place - her best result to date.

Emilie Siegenthaler did not have an ideal start to the season. However, with sixth place in qualifying, she seems to have overcome her slump in Fort William. She then did well in the race, but crashed in the same place as Basil Weber and then abandoned her run. "My shoulder is still not as strong as I had hoped and I was in a lot of pain after the fall. But I'm feeling better now."

European champion Camille Balanche had a less good quali with twelfth place, but is all the faster in the race. She came seventh, which is her best result in the World Cup so far. "I simply had a clean run," says Balanche, delighted with her strong result.

Swiss champion Carina Cappellari had less luck. After the road gap, she crashed and lost important momentum to complete the subsequent jumps. She ends up in a good ninth place, but only loses around three seconds to sixth place. Cappellari says: "It's a shame, but at least I know that I'm on the right track."

The elite women's podium from left: Marine Cabirou (FRA), Tracey Hannah (AUS), Rachel Atherton (GBR), Nina Hoffmann (GER) and Veronika Widmann (ITA). Photo ©Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

Half a World Cup victory for Switzerland

Since the first World Cup in 2018, Valentina Höll had won both the qualifying and the final run in the junior category. In Fort William, the Austrian also started with a qualifying victory. However, things turned out differently in the race this time: Höll made a mistake, crashed and victory went to Anna Newkirk for the first time.

After all, Höll still comes second, and she admits to being happy that her winning streak has come to an end.
Newkirk's victory also brings some World Cup glory to Switzerland, as the US American has been living in Switzerland for some time.