Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate/SRAM/RockShox), podiums in 4th place at the UCI World Cup Downhill in Fort William. Scotland. Teammate Nathan Rennie comes 8th, and wife, Adele Peat comes in 29th after a crash.
Local’s say when you are in Scotland the answer to the question, “What will the weather be today?” is always “Rain”. So right they were! “Brollies” and “Wellies” were the call for the week with rain every day on the Nevis Range, just outside of the town of Fort William, in the northwest highlands of Scotland.
The weather report for the weekend was fair, but Saturday had the most rain of all. The cross-country racers were drenched and muddy, and endured cloudbursts throughout their race. The mountain cross faired just as badly with the on and off rain. Even still, the spectators arrived in droves to witness the race with crowd estimates of 10,000 + people. Rennie qualified 20th and advanced through two rounds before he was out. Prokop takes the win followed by Lopes, Kovarik and Deldycke.
Sunday morning came, and with light rain on and off, people were astounded when the downhill final was actually run in the dry, with moments of sunshine peaking through!
After a crash in the qualifier, Nathan Rennie (Santa Cruz Syndicate/SRAM/RockShox), flies across the finish line and takes the hot seat for a stretch with a finish time of 4:30.91. The crowd went absolutely mental when Peaty neared the bottom, hopeful of a British victory, but his 4:27.68 wasn’t enough to unseat Gracia who graced the hot seat at the moment with a 4:26.59. It wasn’t long before Sam Hill arrives, delivering a time of 4:25.33, 1.26 seconds ahead of Gracia to take the win.
Peat had this to say: “I’m really happy to take away some points from this race because I came in with an injury. I was struggling in practice to even hang onto the bike (Steve fractured his knuckle a week and a half ago, and dislocated his finger in Vigo, Spain, both on his right hand). As usual, it’s been a wicked atmosphere here at Fort William and I want to thank the home crowd for cheering so loud again. Thanks to the Santa Cruz Syndicate and all my sponsors for supporting me and making all this happen”.
Adele Peat, (aka:“Mrs. Peaty”), dusted off her body armor and raced the downhill, her first world cup downhill race in years. Adele, who retired from racing to start her family, was relaxed and excited to race once again. Steve’s parents, Eleanor and Tony, joined in the family affair and were on hand to tend to young Jake Peat so that both his parents could race. Steve says, “It was cool to have Adele racing again. I would like to be more supportive for her at the races, but when I’m racing also, it is difficult. Me and Rennie were having a power nap in the van while she was coming down the hill. I was really happy and proud to have my family here with me this weekend.”
The race at Ft. William was, once again, a huge success. It is evident why this race earned the IMTTO race of the year award for 2005. Well planned and executed, the 2006 race didn’t disappoint, and serving Moet & Chandon champagne on the podium proved again how first rate this event is! With preparations to host the World Championships in 2007, organizers are well on their way to make the racing even better.
Downhill Final Results:
Sam Hill 4:25.33
Cedric Gracia 4:26.59
Greg Minnaar 4:27.64
Steve Peat 4:27.68
Gee Atherton 4:27.77
Overall Downhill Results:
Sam Hill 352
Steve Peat 330 (Santa Cruz Syndicate)
Cedric Gracia 292
Mick Hannah 274
Nathan Rennie 266 (Santa Cruz Syndicate)
Thanks to the Syndicate sponsors:
SANTA CRUZ BICYCLES SRAM RockShox Truvativ Avid DT Swiss Kenda PUSH Crank Brothers Chris King WTB Clif Bar Troy Lee Designs
5Ten
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