2007 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships powered by Nissan Sports Adventure Fort William, Scotland Monday 3 - Sunday 9 September 2007 http://fortwilliamworldchamps.co.uk
NEWS RELEASE – Thursday 14 June 2006
FORT WILLIAM No 1 YET AGAIN THE BEST MOUNTAIN BIKE EVENT OF 2006 In recent IMTTO Membership Vote The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Fort William receives double points in voting process
At a meeting of the IMTTO –- the International Mountain Bike Teams, Technical Support Companies and Organisers - in Champery, Switzerland, on Thursday 7 June 2007, the 2006 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Fort William was awarded the mountain bike event of the year for the second year running. The World Cup at Fort William outstaged thirty other international mountain bike events including Crankworx in Canada, the Sea Otter Classic, USA, and the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships in New Zealand.
President of IMTTO, Martin Whitley, said: ''Fort William earned almost double the points in the voting process than its nearest rivals. The event is clearly the most respected on the circuit. Mont- Sainte-Anne's World Cup and Velirium event moved up from 3rd to 2nd this year and is always a big favorite among the members due to the attention to detail, and the services provided. Another big improver was Schladming that moved from 8th in 2005 to 3rd'.
Unlike other event awards, IMTTO members vote on all mountain bike events throughout the world, not just UCI World Cups. This means every event on the 2006 mountain bike calendar, regardless of their affiliations, or event style, were considered by the members. They also voted for events that were, not only excellent for the sport but were very helpful to the IMTTO membership.
Mike Jardine of Rare Management, organisers of Mountain Bike events at Fort William from 2002 to 2006, said: 'Once again this is a huge testament to the entire team behind the whole Fort William mountain biking programme. It's clear that the global mountain biking community respects the work that goes into the trail building, the professionalism of the organising staff and the rabid enthusiasm of the spectators – no matter what the weather conditions Fort William delivers. And in September we want to deliver the biggest and best World Championships ever.'
The 2007 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships - powered by Nissan Sports Adventure – will be staged in Fort William, Scotland, from 3 to 9 September 2007. It is not only the first ever mountain bike World Championships to be staged in the UK (the biggest, the most important and the best mountain bike event in the world) it is also one of the highlights of Highland 2007 – the year Scotland celebrates Highland culture.
More than 700 of the World's top riders from more than 50 nations, riding for country rather than for trade teams and sponsors, will descend upon Fort William to compete across the four mountain bike disciplines of Cross Country, Downhill, 4-Cross and Trials for a total of 19 World Championship titles. They will be joined by up to 40,000 spectators from across the globe.