DOWNHILL mountain biking: there can't be many sports where the gulf between amateurs and pros is wider. Consider the course at Fort William, where the best downhill racers on the planet will be competing this weekend on the fourth stop of this year's Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup tour.
A decent amateur will typically complete the course – which drops 525 vertical metres in 2.7km – in around 15 or 20 minutes, perhaps ten if they're really going for it. The pros, however, will expect to get down in about four minutes, hitting speeds of 40mph and upwards and spending a good deal of time flying through the air. It all makes for spectacular viewing, which explains why the event organisers are expecting 20,000 people to turn out to watch today and tomorrow.
There are eight stops on this year's World Cup circuit, ranging from South Africa to Slovenia, but for the pros, Fort William is the big one – it's the stage they all want to win.
"If I could only choose one race to win out of the whole season it would be Fort William, no question" says Gee Atherton, one of the top British men. "The track's really gnarly and really rough, so all the riders get properly tested, and there's always an incredible atmosphere too – the crowds at Fort William are amazing."
Atherton is one third of the feted Animal Commencal racing team, alongside brother Dan and sister Rachel. Last year, Gee finished third on the men's World Cup tour while Rachel was the first placed woman. Gee and Rachel also achieved an unprecedented clean sweep at the UCI Downhill World Championship at Val Di Sole in Italy – an annual one-off shot at glory – where Gee won the men's downhill event and Rachel won the women's. The national media, which usually gives "niche" sports such as mountain biking a wide berth, fell for the fairytale brother-sister storyline, so the pair started cropping up in mainstream newspapers as well as specialist mountain bike magazines.
That said, 2009 hasn't been so kind to the Shrewsbury-based siblings. Rachel will not compete for the foreseeable future having had surgery on an injured shoulder; Dan also appears to be out of action following an over-the-handlebars crash in Andorra last month; and so far this season Gee has only managed two fifths and a second – he goes into the Fort William event ranked fourth in the overall standings.
The man to beat on this year's tour is Sheffield's Steve Pete, who is ranked first in the world following wins in France and Andorra. Atherton says: "He's always pretty quick at Fort William. He's very fit, a super-strong rider – in fact physically he's probably one of the strongest riders on the circuit. He'll definitely be one to watch."
In the women's downhill, another British competitor, Tracey Moseley must be starting to feel like 2009 could be her year – she's currently lying in second place in the women's standings, just a couple of points behind France's Sabrina Jonnier, after finishing first in South Africa, second in France and third in Andorra. A win at Fort William would see her leapfrog Jonnier and re-take pole position.
"Fort William's certainly one of the best events on the circuit for crowds and atmosphere," she says. "And of course it's fantastic for me and the other British riders because they're cheering us more than everybody else."
Moseley says the track at Fort William offers plenty of opportunities for spectators to get close to the action.
"It's unique in the sense that it's not covered over by trees. At a lot of places you don't get to see very much of the race, but here spectators can walk down the entire track. The speeds the riders can reach are quite fast because it's quite open, so it makes for fantastic viewing in that respect," she says.
Where are the best places to watch?
"There's only one wooded section on the course, but that's always a good spot, it always seems to catch a lot of crowds, I guess because it's a bit different – a bit slower and a bit more technical. Some of the places at the top of the course are really fast and open and also really rough, so you get to see the bikes working really well.
"The atmosphere is the best at the bottom, though, because you get to see the whole race unfold from there, plus you get to see some spectacular jumps in the finish area."
• The Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2009, Fort William, today and tomorrow. For more information visit
www.fortwilliamworldcup.co.uk