This weekend round two of the British Cycling MTB Downhill Series takes on an international flavour, as some of the world’s best travel to Fort William.

They will take on the five British riders who dominated the 2014 world championships; rainbow jersey winners Gee Atherton and Manon Carpenter, and medallists Josh Bryceland, Rachel Atherton and Tahnee Seagrave.

Joined by Mike Jones, Danny Hart and Sam Dale, who were the top British finishers in the opening round of the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, the home contingent will be strongly represented.

The series takes on extra significance, as it acts as an unofficial warm-up for June’s world cup, which will be held on the same course.

The visiting talents for the British series – which include France’s Myriam Nicole, Morgane Charre and Loic Bruni, Switzerland’s Emilie Seigenthaler, Australia’s Troy Brosnan, and American Neko Mulally – will provide ample competition.

The Fort William track is seen as one of the most physical in the world and riders will be looking for a clean run to boost confidence for the world cup and step on to the podium of the British series.

Event information

The opening round of the 2015 British Cycling MTB Downhill Series takes place on 16-17 May at Fort William.

Racing starts on Sunday from 11:00am, with 300 riders setting a seeding time, before their final race run. Race runs will last around five minutes, with the fastest riders from timed seeding the last down the hill.

For full details see www.britishdownhillseries.co.uk. Start lists can be found here.

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