Marine Cabirou wins bronze medal at World Championships in Fort William, Dylan Levesque, 17th, in the mix with a solid performance.
Fort William, Scotland, August 5th, The World Championships are always a special moment. Usually at the end of the season, they were held halfway through this year due to the grouping together of all cycling disciplines in Glasgow, Scotland.
Our athletes did a specific preparation for this one-day race, one of huge value. The SCOTT DH Factory had prepared bikes specifically for the occasion and associated superb outfits.
The week started with rain, making paddock setup quite a challenge. Fortunately the forecast was good and most of the week went fine, except for the men’s final (read below).
Marine Cabirou and Dylan Levesque, more more motivated than ever, with both keen to wear our colors high and meticulously went through training and settled all the details of their bikes and race lines.
Imagery: Keno Derleyn, Sven Martin
Marine Cabirou really rose the bar during quallies, 3rd with a clean run and without pushing too much. She wanted to keep some freshness, it is crucial on this very physical five minute course.
It was almost the same for Dylan Levesque, 11thin qualifications, with a good pace and mastering all technical aspects on that track.
The tone was set, competitors would have to count on us!
Marine’s run
After final preparation, it was time to go up to the start. Marine was very focused; she was after a medal.
Rider at the gate, go… the first intermediate is in the green, almost 2s ahead, in the second part she put in four more seconds. The section in the woods is absorbed with mastery and fluidity, we clearly find the Marine we knew during her wins in the 2019 and 2020 World Cup seasons. The injuries are now behind her.
The end of the track with the famous “motorway” is clean, the jumps are made to the millimeter… she finishes more than seven seconds ahead the current leader. We knew that the win was going to be around 5:00, she is there. Camille Balanche gives everything and finishes a hair in front of Marine (3/10). Finally, the reigning World Champion is on track, she alternates red and green depending on the section but finishes 1.8sec ahead of Marine, well done Vali.
Marine is bronze medalist of these DH World Championships, three participations with the SCOTT DH FACTORY and three podiums, not so bad!
Beyond the result, we all saw Marine back at her best. Bravo Marine, work is paying off, we can’t wait to see what’s next!
Dylan did a good qualification (11th) and was ready to fight, unfortunately the weather suddenly changed, and the well-known Scottish rain fell on the slopes of the Nevis Range!
The first consequence was to favor the first starters who avoided the worst conditions, the second was a significant change the soil/terrain making mud, roots and rocks even more complex to challenge!
Dylan Levesque came out of it rather well, but a few mistakes, quite excusable given the conditions, prevented him from expressing all his talent.
Nevertheless, he finished 17th, he was there for much better and revenge will come, he’s a solid and talented guy.
Congratulations to Charlie Hatton for his World Champ’s title.
A big thank you to the SCOTT DH Factory team, Paul and Jean-Jacques as mechanics, our wonderful Chef Anne; Morgane as team assistant as well as Thibaut and Florent Payet on track as line checkers and athlete liaisons, and we don’t forget Sam behind his camera fighting rain and mosquitos!
Next race is this weekend in Chatel (FRA) for the final of the French Cups, then in Vallnord (AND) at the end of the month for the 4th round of the 2023 World Cup.
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