Williamson Successfully Retains British DH Championship Title

Greg Williamson has retained his British DH Mountain Bike Championship crown

Williamson took his win at the HSBC UK National Downhill Championships at Rhyd-Y-Felin in Wales on a course full of with huge jumps and tight berms just as Chris Froome won his fourth Tour de France in Paris.

Williamson, of the Cube Global Squad, and a former pupil of Sally Thorne at Tore Primary School in Ross-shire, Scotland, once again beat World Champion Danny Hart, whom he also beat in to second place by a little over a third of a second in the same competition at Llangynog, Wales last year.

In a tight-at-the-top race Williamson successfully defended his National Champion jersey against top-seeded rider Charlie Hatton (2nd) and Hart who was favourite to win (3rd).

Downhill (DH) mountain bike racing is one of the most exciting and spectacular formats of cycling in the world and pushes rider skill and fitness to the very limits of what’s possible. Riders are seeded in an initial run which determines the order for finals. In seeding Greg finished in 3rd place with Charlie Hatton and Marc Beaumont in 1st and 2nd spot respectively.

In the finals, the fastest rider has to start last. Greg, who after completing his run was pleased to see that he had beaten the current fastest time set by Hart.

“When I came over the line I was relieved to see I had beaten Danny’s time. It remained a nail-biting wait until Marc & Charlie finished their runs to see if my run was enough to retain my title. Luckily, although Charlie came very close, I had done enough,” said Greg, adding,

“To become National Champ once was a huge achievement. To successfully defend my title is the best I could have hoped for. I am ecstatic!”

After his victory there’s no rest for Greg who is back on the World Cup circuit in Canada next weekend having already represented UCI racing team Cube Global Squad in Germany, Andorra, Austria, France as well as the U.K. this year.