Daniel Parfitt believes Fort William has a bright mountain biking future – despite it being removed from the World Cup circuit for next season.
The Nevis Range track has hosted a World Cup round in each year since 2002, aside from a two-year absence due to the Covid pandemic.
It will not be part of the 2025 calendar, however, with new organisers Warner Brothers announcing they are “making space for other locations also vying to become part of the sport’s rich history”.
The organisers have hinted Fort William could be included in future calendars, though.
Local rider Parfitt is excited about the alternative plans being put in place by Nevis Range, which include four new races to take place in Fort William.
Parfitt, whose father Dave is a manager at Nevis Range, said: “I’m very involved in Nevis Range with the support they give me. In each of the last five or six years, they have been saying it’s going to be the last one.
“I know next year there’s nothing to worry about – Nevis Range have got a lot of events to look forward to.
“You’d normally have the World Cup and maybe a British round.
“I have seen the rough schedule, and although we’ve not got the biggest one, we have more than we normally have, which will be good.
“They have spoken about it, and they hope they can bring it back in the next few years.
“Even if not, we are still going to have races at Fort William.
“I’m sure it will come back at some point.”
Parfitt buoyed after breakthrough season – including Fort William podium
Parfitt is fresh from a successful second and final season in the junior section of the downhill World Cup series, in which he finished 10th overall.
The 18-year-old is now preparing to step up to elite level, and is in the process of trying to secure a World Cup jersey for next season.
The possibility of entering an access series is also a possibility, amid a raft of changes to the World Cup landscape.
Regardless of what happens, Parfitt insists his day to remember at Aonach Mor will rank high among anything he goes on to achieve.
He added: “That was the highlight of the season – and potentially of my career.
“It was hard to top that. Even if I got another insane result, being at home that was going to be the one which everyone was at.
“Even if I came 20th, it still probably would have been the highlight.
“The goal was really just to qualify. I was happy just to be there – but the goal was to be top-25.
“I think I outdid myself there. Even on the finals day, everyone I spoke to after was saying ‘you must have been feeling so much pressure.’
“But because I qualified, my goal of top-25 had been completed. The finals day was just a bonus. Making it into the finals day was the goal – I wasn’t aiming to qualify first.
“I was actually pretty chilled, to be honest. My friends and family were all probably more worried about it than I was.
“If I go on to achieve good things, I still don’t know if that podium at Fort William is going to be topped.”
Teenager reflects on MTB journey
Parfitt, who attended Inverlochy Primary School and Lochaber High School, has effectively been steeped in the World Cup scene since he was born.
After using the skiing facilities at Nevis Range throughout his childhood, Parfitt insists he has not looked back since his focus turned to mountain biking just before he turned 10.
Parfitt added: “I have never lived anywhere else, and my mum and dad are very outdoor people.
“My dad has worked at Nevis Range for a long time – for 10 or 15 years before I was even born.
“My mum was always part of the medical team at the World Cup, and I think I’ve been at every single World Cup since I was one.
“It wasn’t like I went to the World Cup and I got into it – I was always into it. That has been 17 odd World Cups I have seen now.
“It’s probably a stupid amount of time I have spent at Nevis Range. If there was a way to work it out, it would be a long time.
“When we used to have some amazing winters, I was brought up skiing. I had an afternoon nursery when I was younger, so my mum and dad took me out skiing in the mornings.
“I skiied before I biked.
“With my dad working there, it was really easy to get into biking. (But) it wasn’t until I was probably eight or nine, and going to the World Cups, that I thought I would quite like to do this.
“I was getting to a point where I was getting good on a bike, and I started doing my first mini-downhill races.
“I started on that pathway, and realised at the World Cup that was how the riders had all come up.”
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