The fourth round of National Downhill Series saw Joe Breeden and Meghan Flanaghan take victories on a revamped course at the Glencoe Mountain Resort.
New sections of the track, developed with the support of the Scottish Downhill Association, brought new challenges to the riders. With several of the elite riders out in Andorra for the next World Cup round, the claim to the elite podium was wide open.
Elite
In a compact elite women’s category, Meghan Flanagan took a dominant win ahead of Sophie Cade in second and Bethany McCully (Team Creation Cycles) in third.
In the elite men’s field, George Gannicott gave it his all to go seven seconds quicker than his seeding run and go into the lead, only to be pipped by the next rider down the hill, Joe Breeden (Intense Factory Racing), who went on to take the overall win. Breeden, as well as claiming the elite win, took the prize for the fastest lap time down the hill on the day. Gannicott took second and Taylor Vernon (Sorted Racegear) claimed third.
Junior
Results were close in the junior men’s category, with just two seconds separating the podium positions. Sam Conroy took the top of the podium, with Tomasso Campana narrowly missing out on the win after a rapid second half split time. Sam Stenhouse rounded off the podium in third.
In the junior women, Isabelle Hogan took first place, ahead of Charlotte Tuckwood in second.
Senior and expert
Josh Turner showed his strength on this course, continuing his lead from seeding to take the win in the senior men’s field, followed by Owen Scott in second and Charlie Mciver in third.
In the women’s field, Amy White-Bensted took a fantastic win with a 15 second lead, ahead of Tiandra Anderson in second and Vaska Prostova in third.
SCOTT Racing’s James Elliot was crowned the victor in the expert men’s field by just under eight seconds. Zac Hudson (Sorted Racegear) put the power down on a smooth run to narrowly beat Reuben Taylor to second place.
Juvenile and youth
In the girls youth and juvenile field, Muc-Off Young Gun’s Heather Wilson dominated, storming to victory by a comfortable 17 seconds. Katy McGowan took home second, with Katie Charlton (North Cotswold CC) rounding off the podium in third.
In the boys juvenile field, Reid Simpson took the top of the podium, followed by Charlie Toomer in second. There was a battle for third, with just 0.16 seconds separating Rhys Price (Pearce Cycles RT) and Osian Morris (Blumilk.com), with Price coming out on top.
In the youth field, the battle for first place could not have been closer, with Nathan Diwell-Wilson (DC Cycles) taking the win by just three thousandths of a second ahead of Joshua Wood in second. Alexander Pervan (West Highland Wheelers) took home third.
Veterans and masters
In the masters category, Christopher Gallagher took a comfortable win ahead of Scottish Downhill Association’s Fraser Houston in second and Andrew Donnachie in third.
In the veteran field, Leon Rosser and Marcus Scott battled it out for the win, with Rosser narrowly taking the victory. Scott followed in second, and John Young rounded off the podium in third.
Following a strong seeding run, Mark Weightman put in a sterling performance in his race run to take the top podium in the grand veteran category. Darren Wilson showed his skill by improving on his seeding run to take second, followed by Nicholas Holling in third.
The last round of the National Downhill Series takes place in Antur Stiniog over the weekend of 23-24 September.
