Worlds: A tough day at the Fort for the downhillers

The second day of downhill dawned at Fort William and for the juniors it would be their moment of truth at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.

The junior women were up and Jessica Sheridan was the first on course. Her time in the hot seat brief as Kiwi Poppy Lane put down a heater with a time of 5:20.821.

Sheridan would finish with a top 20 result.

"Goal was to get under six minutes and I did that so I was stoked," she said after her finals run.

Alix Luckman and Zali Miklas also got down cleanly to record a 28th and 26th place finish respectively.

Sascha Mills was the last Aussie to fly the flag in the final and the Queensland national champion put everything into her run to stop the clock to record a 12th position.

New Zealand would clean sweep the junior women.

The six Australian riders were making their World Championship debut in a huge junior men’s field.

Jed Stanton and Nathan Dabbs got the ball rolling with early runs and would see their championships end in 35th and 41st.

Mitchell Claxton would push inside the top 40 for his result while Will Ireland ended up in 32nd.

National champion Kael Foale saved his best run for the finals as he finished 12 seconds behind eventual winner Henri Kiefer in 18th place.

"Managed to shave 11 seconds from my qualifying time so tried to make up time everywhere," Foale said post race.

"Even compared to World Cups it's next level at World Champs times are so tight for a four minute track."

While Lewis Allbon the fastest Australian in qualifying, found himself with a 27th placing to his name after crossing the line.

The elite racers were up against the clock for the first time at the iconic venue.

While some of the big names struggled down the unforgiving terrain, the Australians would make sure there was plenty of green and gold on course.

Elise Empey, Lia Ladbrook and Sian A’Hern would drop in, in a bid to secure a top 30 spot, and the girls indeed would be invited to the finals party.

Current national champion A’Hern would lock in 10th with a run 15 seconds behind the eventual fastest Valentina Höll in a time of 5:01.917. Meanwhile, Ladbrook ( 20th) and Empey (24th) made sure they booked a gondola seat for the final at their first ever elite women’s world championship.

The men were up next with Josh Arcus, Oliver Davis, Jackson Connelly and Remy Meier-Smith all contesting their first elite World Championship in a stacked field.

Davis put down a heater to record a 4:35.463 and put himself in the mix with 28th place, one behind Australian champion Luke Meier-Smith who made his return from a broken collar-bone.

Brother Remy locked in 30th place with 2019 junior world champion Kye A’Hern three places behind.

Troy Brosnan did enough to ensure he’d be there for the finals cruising to 10th in qualifying four seconds behind the five-time world champion Frenchman Loic Bruni.

For more coverage of the ARA Australian Cycling Team at the UCI Cycling World Championships, visit our Glasgow 2023 Hub.

Main Photo: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com