Every year, Fort William bursts with life when the UCI Downhill World Cup comes to visit. It draws fans, world-class riders, global media and since 2002 the much-loved event has generated over £30 million for the local economy. Mike Jardine, of event organiser Rare Management, has been at the heart of Fort William for the last two decades, bringing the World Cup and more to life year after year. The Scotsman was recently inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame as recognition for his impressive contribution to the downhill mountain biking scene.
“As far as I'm concerned, the award isn't for me, it's for the whole team around Rare Management, which is my business partner, Lesley [Beck], because the two of us really got things going,” Jardine explained a few moments before receiving his accolade. “There are hundreds of volunteers over the last 20 years who've worked their butts off to make Fort William what it is. Over 22 years, with two years out for COVID, we did two World Championships, 18 World Cups, and a total of about 133 international-level competitions over that 20-year period. It is nice to get that acknowledgement for a discipline that isn't really prioritised within the British Cycling sector, but it's been very successful.”
Jardine notes that the work of him and his colleagues has been crucial to ensuring that downhill stays alive in the UK. Since the discipline is not yet recognised as an Olympic sport, there is often a struggle to receive funding and create programmes to ensure that new, younger riders are trying out downhill racing.
“There's always been a really strong level of British competitors at the highest level and that was one of the successes with Fort William, we had great British guys and girls capable of winning, like Tracy [Moseley], Rachel [Atherton] G [Atherton] Steve [Peat] Danny [MacAskill]. The list is pretty endless, and they all did such a good job of pushing the sport forward,” Jardine says. “Sometimes, it felt that they were a bit of a second cousin, because downhill, not being an Olympic discipline, means it is inevitable it's not going to get as much support as road or track or even cross-country. We've done a lot of cross-country World Cups as well, and events in China. The problem is there's not as much money out there as there should be for the sport to get younger athletes into it.”
Despite recognising the challenges the downhill scene is currently facing, Jardine notes that the recognition from British Cycling is a positive step for downhill racing. He is also optimistic that with hard work and the passionate fan base the sport has, progress will continue.
“There's no doubt it would help because as soon as you become an Olympic sport, the funding tap gets turned on. I used to be involved in skiing, and it was very much the case there as well. Olympic sports always have an advantage over non-Olympic sports, but the thing that downhill has got going for it is that it's got a really passionate fan base, really passionate participants, and it's just finding a mechanism where it all comes together and it delivers top riders,” Jardine states.
When reflecting on the work he has done in the downhill scene, Jardine says that 2005 was a special year of event organising for himself and his team: “That was the year that Steve Peat won, and I'm pretty sure Tracy was also the women's winner there. I think the whole British downhill mountain biking scene sort of erupted, and it was such an amazing experience to be there to feel it. The crowds at Fort William were always magnificent, but that year, it was even better. There's so many memories over that period that just make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.”
Above all, the Scotsman is keen to stress the importance of the whole team behind Fort William being crucial to the success of the venue. The successes of the World Cup event in Scotland has helped to raise the profile of UK downhill mountain biking on the international calendar, establishing the Scottish round as an essential stop on the fixture list.
“It's not about individual recognition. It’s about what our group of two to 300 people achieved in showing that a car park in the middle of The Highlands could host one of the best cycling events in the country for 20 years,” Jardine smiles. “It was giving people hope, giving the riders hope, introducing lots of young people to the sport and creating that legacy that everyone is looking for.”
