Ben Cathro hopes local knowledge and a lot of desire can take him far in this weekend’s UCI mountain biking world cup event in Fort William.
The 26-year-old from Benderloch, near Oban, gave up competing professionally little more than a year ago to concentrate on his coaching school Sick Skills, but the lure of this weekend’s prestigious event proved too tempting to resist.
Cathro, who finished in eighth place at the Fort William world cup in 2008, said: “I have raced since I was 12 and competed in world cup events from the age of 17, but it was getting to a point where I was spending all my money on travelling the world t compete.
“I decided to step away from racing on the world stage to concentrate on my coaching but I never stopped racing regionally.
“Instead of spending all my money racing, I have started to make money from the sport, which is a big change for me and certainly a welcome change from recent years.”
Cathro’s appearances are more sporadic these days but the chance to compete again at home was one he knew he could not miss.
He said: “I have only missed one of the world cups here at Fort William, and that was because I didn’t have a bike at the time.
“It is a race I have always done and I will definitely be going again.
“I booked my pitch in the world cup village early so I am all set to compete in the male senior category.
“My best finish at Fort William was eighth and I believe I have the experience and the knowledge, although now my racing is primarily to promote my coaching and for fun.
“At the top level this sport is hard on body and mind, and of course on the bike as well. I suppose these days the pressure is off me.
“If everything comes together this weekend the best I could hope for is a top-10 finish.
“I have done it before and I have been on the course coaching around 15 times already since the track opened three weeks ago, so I do know it better than most.
“I will give it my best and a top 10 finish would be a dream finish for me.”