This year’s British Trials Championship and the third round of the British Trials Cup took place on Saturday 4th June alongside the UCI Downhill and 4X World Cup in Fort William. This festival of mountain biking is THE event of the season in the UK, with MTB stars form all over the world coming to compete on some of the most challenging terrain that the UK has to offer. In addition to this, some 60 trials riders had made the trip from the four corners of the UK to take part in the British Trials Championship – a one-off trials event to decide on the 2010 British Champion. The ever-popular Fort William sections featured the usual mix of man-made and natural obstacles (logs, concrete pipes, imported rocks, muddy banks and a rocky stream bed), with plenty of huge gaps, daunting drops and tricky, technical passages made all the more difficult by the intense heat. Three man-made sections were situated in the arena itself, giving the public an opportunity to witness the incredible things the trials riders can do with their bikes and audiences were three deep at many points during the day!

Saturday: British Trials Championship 2010

Elite

In Elite 26” the battle for the title of Champion was tough and merciless, with just 7 points separating the winner and 2010 British Champion Ben Savage (5) from runner-up Danny Butler (12). Ben had been riding well all day with his competition experience showing through as he risked dangerous moves or made sure of a passage with a well placed foot. Dave Kerr took the third podium spot with 32 points.

Elite 26” Podium

Elite 20” saw some exciting action too, and the result was all to play for right up to the final section. Man-mountain Sam Oliver finally took the win over second place Jack Carthy, with 26 and 33 points respectively. Jack’s been causing a bit of a stir on the comp season given his excellent results and young age – will we see him toppling Sam in future competitions? Rob Poyser finished on 46 points to take the bronze medal.

Elite 20” Podium

Expert

Expert was just as closely contended and intense. In 26”, Tom Rigg took the win on 30 points, ahead of Jaime Pedrosa (38) and Steven Robson (70). Alec Wray finished first in the 20” competition with just 5 dabs, with Chris Rider close behind on 16 and Ryan Trickett in third on 20.

Expert 26” Podium

Expert 20” Podium

Cadet

Cadet was won on Saturday by Tom Hooper with just 19 points. Ross McDonald finished second, followed by Tribal Rider Ben Swales in third.

Cadet Podium

Intermediate

Intermediate saw the highest entries of the day, with eighteen riders starting out. Jack Chapman took the win, followed by Jed Hesling and Owen Gawthorpe.

Intermediate Podium

Novice

Charlie Rolls added another win to his already long list of victories, finishing ahead of Adam Morewood in second and his brother Sam Rolls in third.

Novice Podium

Primary

Lewis McDonald finished first in Primary Class ahead of Ruaridh Cant.

Primary Podium

Full results

The awards were presented by British Cycling representative Leyanne Jenkins on the main stage and the riders went back to the B&Bs to rest up for Sunday’s British Cup round.

Sunday: British Trials Cup – Round 3

The 2010 British Championship was followed by the third round of the 2010 British Trials Cup on Sunday 5th June. Riders would have to contend with the same sections as Saturday, but run in reverse. Despite forecasts of rain and heavy cloud cover throughout the day, the weather remained dry and was much cooler, meaning that riders would have a much more comfortable time of it, even if they did have to contend with the hordes of Scottish midges that were making the most of the cool air! It wasn’t all bad though, as some members of the Tyke Trial club bumped into Danny MacAskill by the rock section and he stopped for a chat.

Elite

The competition began at 10:30, with most riders making their way to the top of the hill to ride the stream sections first. In a reversal of yesterday’s results (even down to the number of dabs!), it was Danny Butler (5) who took the win in Elite 26”, relegating Ben Savage (12) to second place. Dave Kerr (27) finished just ahead of James Highland (38) to take third. Things had looked bad for Danny following what looked like a badly strained ankle half way through his second lap, but he carried on riding and finished his second lap with five points on his card and just edged Ben off the top spot. Ben had been riding very well all day and was unlucky to miss out on the win. This will make the next two rounds very interesting with Ben just four points ahead of Danny overall; with both riders are performing well but also with demo commitments that could clash with Cup rounds, who will come out on top at the end of the season?

Elite 26” Podium

Elite 20” saw the same result as Saturday, with Sam Oliver (7) a top the podium with Jack Carthy (27) in second and Rob Poyser (48) in third. Jack put in an excellent performance and for most of the day it looked like he would take the win, but a storming second lap for Sam, with just one point lost, put him just ahead at the end of the competition. This means that Jack is in the lead overall, five points ahead of Sam, with Rob in third.

Elite 20” Podium

Expert class saw some equally consistent results, with the 26” podium unchanged from the day before: Tom Rigg finished on 27 dabs to take the gold medal and Jaime Pedrosa finished second with 51, followed by Steven Robson on 71. Alec Wray matched his previous result by finishing first in Sunday’s competition, with just 16 points on his card. He was followed by Ryan Trickett and Oliver Battye tied on 18. Ryan and Oliver were sparated on most cleans, with Ryan taking second and Oliver third.

Expert 26” Podium

Expert 20” Podium

Cadet

Tom Hooper took the win again in Cadet Class, followed by John Padley and Tribal rider Ben Swales in second and third respectively.

Cadet Podium

Intermediate

Jed Hesling managed to knock Jack Chapman off the top spot on Sunday, taking the win on just 11 points. Jack Chapman and Owen Gawthorpe finished in second and third, both on 12 points. They were separeted on most cleans with Jack just edging Owen out.

Intermediate Podium

Novice

It was the same podium on Sunday in Novice class, with Charlie Rolls on 2, Adam Morewood on 6 and Sam Rolls on 34.

Novice Podium

Full results

The awards were presented by event sponsor Joe Poyzer from Onza Bikes. The next Cup round takes place on the 18th July at Bracken Rocks, near Whatstandwell in Derbyshire. No licences are required to participate, simply enter at www.biketrialuk.co.uk/events or email membership@biketrialuk.co.uk for an entry form.

Photos