Sunday at Fort William dawned, well, grim. The Nevis Range was covered in cloud and intermittent heavy showers swept up the valley and over the course. The purpose-built track isn’t too worried by rain, but the bits over the rocks got a bit slippy and caught a few riders out in morning practice and there was a bit of tyre and suspension rethinking going on before the semi-finals got underway.

Anne-Caroline Chausson wins again

The semis can be a bit of a contradiction. On the one hand, some riders may perceive a tactical advantage in a conservative semi for an earlier run in the finals. On the other hand, there are World Cup points being doled out for good semi-final performances. And unless you’re a front-runner you don’t have the luxury of a conservative run – not everyone gets into the finals, after all. But whichever way you look at it, things were looking promising for Anne-Caroline Chausson (Commencal-Oxbow), qualifying 4.67 seconds ahead of Celine Gros and picking up 50 points. Third in the semis was Britain’s Rachel Atherton, with Helen Gaskell in fourth. Tracy Moseley, confidence perhaps knocked by a crash in morning practice, took it easy in the semis and was down in 11th.

Helen Gaskell took third

With rain showers still passing through the course accompanied by high winds above the treeline, conditions were unpredictable to say the least. First down the course was Caroline Mackinlay in her first World Cup. She managed to stay in the hot seat (a delightful paisley number with an electric fire and small occasional table) for a few riders but Anneke Beerten soon set the pace with a 5:23.12. Britain’s Rhian Atherton and Jaymie Mart could match that, and it was left to Mio Suemasa to raise the bar to 5:16.64. Suemasa was in the hot seat for quite a while until Tracy Moseley came into sight, knocking five seconds off Suemasa’s time. Moseley’s 5:11.64 didn’t look like a race-winning time, though, and sure enough the very next rider, Vanessa Quin, took 12 seconds and the hot seat off her with the first sub-five minute run. Then Jonnier shaved another five seconds off, and of the five women left to run only Anne-Caroline Chausson was able to go faster. It was close, though – Chausson’s 4:53.20 was just two seconds clear of Jonnier. Britain’s Helen Gaskell rode well to grab third, with Vanessa Quin and Marielle Saner rounding out the podium.

Special mention to Rachel Atherton, taking seventh place (one ahead of Tracy Moseley) in her first World Cup. Also debuting was ex-motorcycle trials rider Maria Conway, who scored an impressive 12th. The flow of British riding talent in the women’s field shows no sign of abating…