UK National Championships 2004

A selection of world-class courses and decent weather made for a fine weekend’s racing at Fort William for the National Championships, with titles being decided in XC, DH and 4X.

XC

With a strong field including past champions Oli Beckinsale and Nick Craig, the Elite Men XC was anybody’s race. But in the end it was a new name on top of the podium – Jody Crawforth (Evans RT) managed to drop Nick Craig and Zak Toogood and leave himself with enough energy to catch and pass Beckinsale in the closing stages. Here’s Crawforth’s race in his own words:

“I was a little nervous before the race because I knew that over the last couple of weeks training had gone well and I was starting to feel really good on the bike. I get more nervous as a race comes up if I know I’m in good form simply because I know I can win!

“The weather on Friday evening and Saturday morning didn’t help. I thought I had my tyre choice sorted out (Schwalbe Racing Ralphs) but the rain was making me change my mind. In the end I swapped tyres then swapped back ten minutes before the race!

“On the start line I was gridded on the front row in third place. When we got underway my team mate Jamie Newall blasted through to give me a lead-out before the singletrack climb. I led up there as I wanted to be first into the descent as that’s where I’m strongest. From then on it was a matter of staying with the leaders on the climb, then overtaking them on the descents!

“On the last lap I struggled to stay with Oli Beckinsale, but controlled the gap to him and caught him quickly on the downhill again. Then I knew I had enough gas left to either outsprint him or try to drop him before the finish.

“I would like to thank everyone that came to help the team out, Fort William isn’t the easiest place to get to! Evans cycles have been a great help to me since I joined the team 2 years ago.”

Crawforth may have won the Elite title, but he wasn’t the fastest man over the distance. That honour went to Liam Killeen. He was racing in Espoirs and started three minutes behind the Elite racers. But he came perilously close to catching the Elite leaders up and won the race from Phil Spencer.

XC – those champions in full

DH

Gee Atherton’s had a cracking year so far, winning one World Cup round and getting on the podium at others. At Fort William he reached another milestone by taking his first national senior downhill title. He stormed down the Nevis Range course in 4:14.6, beating World Cup Champ Steve Peat by two seconds. Neil Donoghue was third and Rob Warner fourth.

There were more celebrations for the Atherton family after the women’s race, won by Rachel Atherton ahead of Maria Conway. With Tracy Moseley not competing in protest against UCI regulations that compel National Champions to wear their winner’s jerseys (complete with lack of space for sponsor’s logos) in international competition, Helen Gaskell was the pre-race favourite. But a puncture high on the course put paid to her chances. Emily Horridge came in third.

DH – champion’s roll call

4X

Gee Atherton nearly made it a double in the 4X, but he won’t have been too disappointed to be beaten into second place by his brother Dan. So that’s three Championship jerseys in the Atherton laundry basket. Steve Peat was third. In the women’s event it was Joey Gough on top of the podium ahead of Emily Horridge and Kim Boffey.

All your 4X Champs

Full results for all disciplines are available from British Cycling.