Some of the favorites come away empty-handed at the Downhill World Cup in Fort William. Frenchman Amaury Pierron takes victory for the first time ahead of Loris Vergier and Troy Brosnan. The two Swiss final qualifiers Noel Niederberger and Basil Weber finish 42nd and 54th respectively. Tahnee Seagrave wins the women's race ahead of Myriam Nicole and Rachel Atherton. Emilie Siegethaler comes eighth, Carina Cappellari takes eleventh place.

The "death of the favorites" began even before the race: Greg Minnaar, the record winner of Fort William, broke his forearm and Australian Jack Moir his collarbone, and his compatriot and teammate Dean Lucas also had to miss the race due to a fall. But now there are other big boys at the start, but it doesn't really want to work for them either. One fast rider after another failed to beat the top time set by private rider Reece Wilson (GBR).

But his top time should soon fall, as riders such as Aaron Gwin, Loic Bruni and Remy Thirion are still at the start. Bruni puts in a good run, which puts him in second place. Nevertheless, the run should be a success for the World Champion, as he was unable to ride the first World Cup due to injury. Overall World Cup winner Aaron Gwin first sets a top time in the upper section. But the American never makes it to the finish, as he goes over the handlebars in the technical forest section and only ends up in 20th place - a rare sight.

Amaury Pierron then shoots through the same forest section at an incredible pace and rides the lead he gained there to the finish. None of the favorites were able to match his time, and Luca Shaw's (qualification winner) chances of victory ran out of steam. Only Loris Vergier (FRA) and Troy Brosnan (AUS) come close to Pierron and scurry past Wilson, who not only saves the Brits' honor, but is also the second big surprise of the day.
Pierron didn't come out of nowhere after all, having already made a name for himself with second place at the 2017 World Cup final.

Among the Swiss downhill racers, only Noel Niederberger and Basil Weber qualified for the final on Sunday. There, both improved by nine and one place respectively, to 42nd and 54th.

Seagrave celebrates first home win

In the past, the up-and-coming British rider Tahnee Seagrave has always had other riders in front of her in Fort William. And others seem to be faster again this year. But in the main race on Sunday, Seagrave rides perfectly. She keeps up the pace everywhere and takes over the hot seat from Frenchwoman Marine Cabirou by a good ten seconds.

However, her first fierce rival, Myriam Nicole, goes down. But she still manages second place. Qualification winner Rachel Atherton is then completely dogged by bad luck and loses her chain early on. A fall in a difficult section of the forest puts the Briton further behind. Luck in misfortune, however - Atherton is still in third place. Seagrave, on the other hand, celebrates her first World Cup victory on home soil.

Emilie Siegenthaler starts well, but then increasingly loses ground and finishes the race in eighth place. The second Swiss qualifier Carina Cappellari even rides the fifth best time in the first section. However, she cannot quite maintain this pace in the lower sections and so she also falls back a little and finishes in eleventh place.

Top time for junior winner

Austrian Valentina Höll amazes once again in the juniors. Not only did she ride to victory in Losjni, she also surprised everyone with the sixth-best time in the elite women's race. In Fort William, Höll went one better, crowning her second junior victory with the fourth-fastest elite time. Third place in the junior women's race went to Anna Newkirk from the USA, who lives in Switzerland.