Highlands to host Mountain Bike World Cups 2002
Monday 11 February 2002
The first ever Downhill and 4-Cross Mountain Bike World Cups will be held at the Nevis Range, Fort William this summer thanks to the support of the sportscotland Lottery Fund. £100,000 has been awarded from the Major Events Programme, which has been designed to encourage Scottish sport to host high profile and prestigious events.
"Attracting events of this stature to Scotland is an integral aspect of our drive to promote sport."
Opened last year by rally star Colin McRae, the Off Beat Downhill Bike Track is one of the most naturally beautiful locations for mountain biking in the world, running 2000ft through some of the most stunning scenery in Scotland. Now, less than ten months since it opened, it has been selected by the Tissot UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Series as one of eight international venues in the most prestigious mountain bike competition in the world.
The event was launched today by some of the UK's top riders, including Steve Peat and Scotland's Crawford Carrick Anderson and Stuart Thomson who both receive support from the Lottery funded Talented Athlete Programme.
The event will run over the Golden Jubilee weekend, 1-2 June, with over 250 male and female competitors from around the globe taking part in both the Downhill and the 4-Cross. Over 5000 spectators are anticipated to watch the action on the mountain, but there will be plenty of other distractions including mountain biking demonstrations, 'have a go' sessions, competitions and other entertainment in and around Fort William making it an extremely family friendly weekend.
Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, said: "The sportscotland Lottery Fund is proud to sponsor the Mountain Bike World Cup series in Fort William this summer, especially as it will be held at a world class facility which the Lottery Fund helped create. It is also an excellent opportunity to promote a fun, exciting sport nationally, which will hopefully encourage Scots to get on their bikes.
"Attracting events of this stature to Scotland is an integral aspect of our drive to promote sport. Major events are national moral boosters not only because they can bring significant economic rewards, but also because they generate higher profiles for sports and they show the world that we have the athletes, the ability and the facilities to host first-rate events."
- The Tissot UCI Mountain Bike World Cup - Fort William 2002 will take place at the Off Beat Bike Track, Nevis Range Ski Area on 1-2 June.
- The sportscotland Lottery Fund Major Events Programme was designed to help attract major events to Scotland and to ensure these events are of a high standard and demonstrate Scotland's ability to organise and manage major international gatherings.
- Eligible events under this programme are of World, European or Commonwealth standard and must be part of the international sporting calendar.
- sportscotland will assess the project according to standard of event, size of event, rating of sport, sports development impact, economic impact, management structure, value for money and financial need.
- The Tissot UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Fort William will be a ticketed event and ticket prices details will be announced shortly.
- For more information on this event please visit the official website http://www.fortwilliamworldcup.co.uk/