The UCI World Cup at Fort William is here. Nearly. Actually it’s kind of started – practise is in full swing and spectators are starting to arrive. We’ll be nipping up tomorrow. If you haven’t made any plans to attend yet, you can look forward to staying a fair distance away from the race site at the Nevis Range – Fort William and the surrounding area is pretty much full…

It’s looking like being a massive event. And being a triple World Cup (XC, 4X and DH) there’ll be something for everyone. Thursday and Friday will see training/practise on the XC and DH courses, with the show really kicking off on Friday evening with the Siemens Mobile X Lake Jump (or possibly Loch Jump) and opening ceremony (Loch Linnhe, West End car park, Fort William) from 8pm.

Saturday is XC day, with the women’s race at 11am and the men’s at 2pm. Early evening is the sure-to-be-spectacular 4X finals, followed later by a huge party in Cameron Square, Fort William.

There’s more XC action first thing Sunday, with the Alpine Bikes World Cup Chaser “citizen’s race” – real people racing over the same course as the world’s best the previous day. Give ’em some encouragement, and then find yourself a good spot for the Downhill racing. The semi-finals are at 11 am and the finals at 2 pm…

Everything you could possibly need to know is at www.fortwilliamworldcup.co.uk. It’s going to be great. We’ll see you there…