The 2007 Mountain Bike World Championships take place from 3rd-9th September in Fort William, located in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. For the past few years the venue has played host to MTB World Cup events. Now it is time for the �Worlds� to descend on the Scottish venue that lies in the shadows of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK.

The Cycling Ireland Cross Country and Downhill Squads will take up �residence� in Fort William on 4th September

Cross Country Team Information:

Before leaving for Fort William, Irish International Cross Country Manager Geoff Seymour, spoke about the XCO Team. �The Squad selected for Fort William is a perfect blend of youth and experience as we plan the immediate and long term future of the Irish XC Squad.�

Ireland�s only Elite rider is Robin Seymour (36, Team Worc), currently the overall leader in the Irish Beijing Olympic qualifying attempt with 356 WR points to date.

Earlier in the season Robin won the K-Capital International MTB Series and has since performed well in the British NPS and leads the standings in the British MTB Marathon Series, which he won in 2006. Following on from his excellent 35th place at the recent European Championships in Turkey and his win in the Irish Championships, his 14th title, he has shown he is still on form to collect another good result for the country.

We have two contenders in the Espoir category, namely Niall Davis (22, IMBRC), who is in his last year as an Espoir and has also shown good form with an excellent ride to 17th place in the Europeans in this category. Niall started the year well by winning two rounds of the International K-Capital Cup Series.

His younger team mate, first-year Espoir Conor McConvey (19, XMTB) finished 29th in the Europeans in Turkey and was recently 6th Espoir in a French Cup race in Val D'Is�re.

The sum of the ranking points for these three riders has set Ireland on course to secure places for Ireland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Good results in the Worlds for all three are needed to continue to maximize the pick-up of points, this chase lasting until the end of the year.

In the Elite women's category, Beth McCluskey (36, Epic), the recent winner of the Irish Championships and Tarja Owens (30, Team Worc), the leader in the overall Bejing points race are the two best on-form Elite women at present. Good results are needed from both of them to keep the Bejing place hopes alive. While Beth has been in dominant form on the Irish scene in 2007, Tarja has led the chase for Olympic qualification for the past two years on the International stage.

In the Junior men's category, we have three hard campaigning riders. Liam McGreevy (17, Banbridge CC) was the victor at the recent Irish National Championships while his two closely matched rivals Graham Boyd (18, XMTB) and Paul O�Reilly (17, IMBRC) have battled at home and abroad as team-mates for the top positions in their class. This is Graham�s last season in the Junior class while Liam and Paul are first year juniors. All three had a mid-season break for school exams and are now in peak form for the Worlds.

We wish all eight of them success and hope they have safe and high placed results at Fort William.


XCO Race Programme

Thursday September 6th:

09.30-11.30: Junior Men Cross Country World Championships

Friday September 7th:
13.30-15.30: U23 Men Cross Country World Championships


Saturday September 8th:

08.30-09.30: XCO training
10.00-12.15: Elite Women Cross Country World Championships
14.00-16.30: Elite Men Cross Country World Championships


XCO Accomodation:

Thistle Cottage
Torlundy
Fort William
Inverness-shire
Scotland
PH33 6SN
+44 (0) 1397 702428


Downhill Team Information:

After a superb European DH Championships in Greece in July and having been part of the World Masters DH Squad in France, Irish DH manager Joe Ward was in upbeat form before leaving for Fort William.

�Following on from the teams European success I want to wish the boys the best of luck for the event and know they will do themselves, their families and us all proud. I would also like to thank Chain Reaction for sponsoring and supporting the Irish Downhill team and supplying Dale McMullan as the team mechanic. Thanks also to Glyn O� Brien for his support as Team Coach and to Cycling Ireland for the funding.�

Rider Information:

Ben Reid (21)

Ben Reid, who competes in events all over the world, has a host of titles to add to his belt. Ben has been Irish champion for 6 years now, and is the 2007 Irish National Champion. His more recent results include placing 11th in the Chambery World Cup, 38th in the Mont St Anne World Cup, 10th in the Austrian World Cup as well as 6th place in the European Championships in Greece in July. Ben, from Newtownards, is sponsored by Ironhorse and is without a doubt the best of the Irish.

Ger Wolfe (21)

Gerard has been competing at a high level in Ireland for a number of years now and was a member of the team who went to the World Championships in New Zealand in 2007. In 2007 he has placed in top 3 in the Irish NPS, and also recently finished in 21st position in the Maxxis Cup in Andorra and placed 7th in the 2007 Irish National Championships. Gerard is a member of Epic MTB club and son of former Irish downhill manager, Brian Wolfe. Gerard has also placed in 32nd place in the European Championships in July 2007.

Greg O'Keefe (20)

Greg O'Keefe is riding in his first year as an Elite rider in Ireland. Some of Greg's results in 2007 include placing 9th in the British NPS Round 2 in the expert category, as well as 3rd in the Scottish SDA in Fortwilliam this month. Greg is from Cork and is involved with the 021 racing club. Greg finished in 16th place in the European Championships in Greece in July 2007 and 6th in the 2007 Irish National Downhill championships.

Dan Wolfe (18)

Dan Wolfe, brother of team mate Gerard, has recently finished in fifth place in the Irish National Downhill championships. Dan has also placed 2nd in the Irish NPS Round 5 in 2007.

Stephen Beattie (24)

Stephen is sponsored by Team Real Cycles/Commencal and is from Belfast, Co Antrim. Stephen comes from an MX background but has been downhilling for a number of years now. Stephen regularly receives top 3 results in the Irish NPS and recently placed 9th in the 2007 Irish National Downhill champs.

Darren Quille (20)

Darren Quille, from Newbridge, Co Kildare has been racing downhill since underage level. Darren placed 12th in the 2007 Irish National Downhill championships, and consistently places in the high elite field at the NPS rounds.

Ewan Doherty (17)

Ewan, who is sponsored by Breathe Eze Fitness, from Belfast, has had success is Ireland's top junior rider. Ewan has placed first in all but 1 2007 Irish NPS and also placed 7th in British NPS Round 2 as well as 14th in the SDA round 1 and 3. He is the current Irish junior champion. and recently placed 21st in the European Championships in Greece in July.

Jason Murphy (16)

Jason Murphy is also in his first year as a junior in Ireland, and is one of the many members of the Killarney squad. He has had top 3 results in the Irish 200 NPS and also finished 15th in the Scottish SDA Series in Fort William and 31st in the British NPS.

Jason finished 31st in the European Championships in Greece this year and in 2nd place in the Irish National Downhill championships.

Seanan O'Riordan (17)

Seanan O'Riordan, sponsored by Kendor Management has placed in 2nd and 4th positions in the 2007 Irish NPS. Recently, Seanan placed in 3rd position in the Maxxis Cup in Andorra. Seanan, who competed at junior level a year prematurely in 2006, finished in 2nd place at the Irish National Championships in 2006 and in 3rd place in the 2007 Irish National Downhill Champs. He also placed in 7th place in the European Championships in Greece in July.

Karl O�Sullivan (18)

Karl, from Dublin, rides for Team Real Cycles/Commencal based in Carryduff. Karl placed 4th in the 2007 Irish National Downhill Championships and is currently placed in 3rd place in the Irish NPS League tables with results top 3 and 4.

Team reserves:
Gareth Mc Kee (19), Tom Power (22)

DH Race Programme:

Thursday 06/09/2007

13.00-16.00 Downhill seeding runs (all categories)

Sunday 09/09/2007

10.30-12.15 Downhill World Championships Junior Men+Women

DH Accommodation:

The Alexandra Hotel, The Parade, Fort William, PH33 6AZ
Tel: 01397 702241 Fax: 01397 705554
The Ben Nevis Hotel & Leisure Club, North Road, Fort William, PH33 6TG
Tel: 01397 702331 Fax: 01397 70013