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UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Series Giant Factory Off-Road Team (Cover)

Hosting Professional Athletes – The Giant Factory Off-Road Team

Jul 19, 2024 | Giant Factory Off-Road team

by

Distant Hills Guest House B&B Spean Bridge

A Behind-The-Scenes Insight

Almost every year since 2002, the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Series has been held here at the Nevis Range in Fort William. The event is a huge spectacle attracting competitors and visitors from all over the world and is a significant feature on our regional calendar. The buzz leading up to and during the event is electric and we are so fortunate to get up close and personal with one of the competing teams and share in their world of professional downhill mountain bike racing.

All racing teams need a place to stay during the event and for many years now and Distant Hills Guest House have been extremely lucky to host the Giant Factory Off-Road team. Cameron and I love hosting people, but we especially love hosting these guys. Their stay is the number one highlight on our annual B&B calendar! For the last 3 years, Cameron and I have built a solid relationship with the team and they have become more like friends, whom we welcome back each time with big beaming smiles and open arms.

Being privileged to host and see a little of what goes on behind the scenes of a professional mountain bike team is both fascinating and exciting and we thought you might be curious too.

Giant Factory Off-Road Team – what they do during their stay

Day One (Monday) – Firstly, the team usually takes over the whole house and stays for a week. Monday is the team’s arrival day with the team members often flying in from different countries, so managing logistics, as well as travel weariness, is a critical part of day one.

Day 2 (Tuesday) – The whole team goes to the Nevis Range to set up their ‘pit’, similar to a fully branded, rectangular marquee. The pit is essentially the ‘nerve centre’ where the team bases operations during the week including:

  • Bike assembly, tuning, and maintenance
  • Athlete training
  • Team strategy
  • Lunch and dinner prep by the cook
  • Physio and recovery for athletes

Cameron and I were thrilled to be invited to the ‘pit’ on race day in 2022. We didn’t stay long because we did not want to get in the way or be any distraction but it was awesome to witness the whole team in action!

Tuesday is also the day that the cook will go and buy the team’s food for the week, an important task as there is little opportunity to dash to the shops henceforth.

Day 3 (Wednesday) – This is perhaps the most ‘relaxing’ day of the week, for the riders at least. This is typically a day for professional photo shoots and mingling with other teams before things get serious. On the contrary, it can be quite a busy day for the rest of the team as they plan for weather, build wheels, overhaul the bikes and tackle any time-consuming projects such as installing a replacement water pump on the team’s lorry for example, and any other infrastructure needs.

Day 4 (Thursday) – Thursday is usually ‘track walk’ day, which means the riders, mechanics, coach and manager have the opportunity to walk the track from top to bottom to get a close and detailed look at the course, the terrain and the general condition of the ground.

The track walk typically takes 3 hours and is crucial for a successful event. The athletes, coach and manager plan for any track degradation and changes in weather. The mechanics can see the conditions first-hand and confirm the bike set-up with their rider. Everything from bike geometry, tyre choice, tyre pressure and suspension setup are all decided following the track walk.

Day 5 (Friday) – This is when things start to get a little bit more exciting and Cameron and I sense a subtle change within the group. For example, the riders are very much given their ‘space’ and their needs are at the very forefront of the team’s actions. Everyone is visibly tuned in and ultra-focused on their individual roles. There is a slightly quieter and more serious tone to breakfast times from here on in. That said, there is still plenty of chat, banter and total solidarity. It is a joy to watch and listen to.

This is when the early starts begin as the team needs to be at the Nevis Range by 8 am before the event organisers close access to the site, so we are typically preparing breakfast for 6.45 am for the team to be away by 7.30 am.

Day 5 is all about practice for the riders. There are two practice sessions this day with a break for lunch. On average (this depends on the track but Fort William is an easy venue with a reliable gondola) a rider will get 6-8 practice runs on Day 5. At the end of the second session, there is ‘timed training’. This is a mock race run if the riders want a timed run to provide a baseline.

Day 6 (Saturday) – The team refers to this day as the ‘qualies’ but there’s more to it than that! This is the most difficult day of the week for the whole team. The elite riders must qualify in the top 60. On average, 250 elite riders are trying to make the cut of the top 60 to move to the next session. After qualification, riders and mechanics have 2 hours to make adjustments to the bike setup and line choice. Riders then do another full race, the Semifinals, to further cut the field to 30. Luckily, for this year’s Giant Off-Road team, all 3 riders qualified and secured their places in the top 30!

When you think about a race, you might assume, like I did, that it’s just the riders at the top of the mountain. However, the mechanics always go to the start hut with the athlete to set up the athlete’s specific warm-up. Mechanics are with the athlete until they ‘drop in’ for all three of their race runs (ie. qualify, semi, final). This is the loneliest and longest 3-5 minutes for mechanics. Months of preparation, testing and travel all hinge on the athlete, mechanic and bike performing 100%. There is zero margin for error at this level.

Day 7 (Sunday) – This is the eagerly awaited day of the final. The atmosphere at breakfast is slightly tense and exciting to say the least. You can visibly see everyone totally pumped and ready to ‘send it’ or as Rémi Thirion describes it, ‘go to war!’. We wave off the team with plenty of heart-felt ‘good lucks’ and then we wait anxiously for the individual rider’s race times and any news of their final positions.

Once at the pit at the Nevis Range, the day begins with a 1.5 hour morning training session. Athletes typically do 2 runs to verify bike setup, tyre choice, and line choice while keeping a keen eye on the weather forecast. This session is either really easy with the athletes feeling prepared or really difficult due to weather or a mechanical crash! Mechanics do not have the luxury of time in the event of a parts failure or a damaged bike from a crash.

The top 30 athletes then go back to the start hut with their mechanic and begin their final warm-up before the ‘Final’ run. A warm-up typically takes 45 minutes (Luke Meyer Smith’s, for example, is 44 minutes exactly and he likes to finish 6 minutes before his start). The athlete needs to complete their warm-up with minimal time to spare before their start. When they ‘drop in’ for their runs, they need to be at peak performance. The team, therefore, has to be ready for weather delays (wind holds for gondola operation for example), and course holds (injured riders) and adjusts accordingly.

While the race is wrapping up, staff prepare the “pit” for breakdown and departure. There are lots of moving pieces and this is the most stressful day for mechanics and staff. Everything has to be cleaned, packed, and prepared simultaneously for departure and arrival. To further complicate this process, the athletes often travel to different destinations and need to prepare for either a training session in between rounds at a strategic location, or departure for an extended break.

Once packed up, those not departing straightaway return to Distant Hills to get a quick shower before heading out for a celebratory meal of another race complete!

Day 8 (Monday) – This is a sad day for us because it’s the team’s last breakfast with us and time to bid farewell for another year. Depending on the race calendar, the team will either travel to the next race location or take a well-earned break and head home for a short while. This year, the whole team stayed in either France or Germany for a week before heading to Poland for the second leg of the World Cup, which was held just two weeks after the race here in Fort William. Since then, Rémi Thirion, Luke Meier-Smith and Remy Meier-Smith have also raced in Leogang, Val Di Sole and Les Gets and are racing this week in Fiesch.

Watching the Event as a Spectator

In the first year, we hosted the Giant Off-Road team, and we gained access to watch the final. Last year, we watched it on TV and this year we planned to watch it on TV only to realise that we couldn’t get it on our Sky subscription. We were so disappointed and will make sure we get tickets and attend live next year.

To watch the event live is an experience you will never forget. The phenomenally large crowds are one thing, but it’s the cheering and the excited clanging of cowbells as the riders finally come into view and literally fly over the last hurdle, that is truly captivating and just has you whooping and roaring too! If ever you get the chance to watch one of these races, especially here at the Nevis Range in Fort William, take it! It’s absolutely awesome!

What makes hosting the Giant Factory Off-Road Team so special?

There are so many reasons that Cameron and I absolutely love hosting the Giant Factory Off-Road Team. Put very simply, we are in total awe of what the riders do and the sheer courage and skill that they have. We are also incredibly impressed by the whole team ethos and how every team member takes full responsibility for their individual role. Watching and being around these guys is like having a masterclass in team excellence and high-end performance. They are each so professional and so committed and are each just super lovely, down-to-earth humble people. There is no show-boating, no arrogance and no ‘Prima Donna’ behaviour and they are genuinely respectful and appreciative of every little thing we do for them.

We have had a little glimpse into what life is like to be part of a professional downhill mountain bike racing team and it is an honour and a privilege to be a very small cog in their wheel, pardon the pun! We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. If you would like to know more about the Giant Factory Off-Road team or the UCI Downhill Mountain Biking World Cup series, check out the following links:

Giant Factory Off-Road Team
ucimtbworldseries.com

We wish Rémi Thirion (France) and brothers Luke Meier-Smith and Remy Meier-Smith (Australia) as well as the whole team the very best of luck for the rest of the 2024 World Series!

Special thanks to Bradley Blackwell (bike mechanic) for co-writing this article with me and to Sven Martin for the professional images.

Dani Mackinnon

Hi, I’m Dani, the author of this blog and the lucky co-owner of Distant Hills Guest House in the glorious Scottish Highlands. I love sharing my passion for life, the mountains and the great outdoors.

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