Mountain-bike racing’s collective attention will turn to the wooded hillsides around Fort William, Scotland on Saturday, September 8, as history could be in the making. Should Frenchman Julien Absalon emerge from those woods having vanquished the world’s best, he will become the first man ever to earn four world cross-country titles. With wins in 2004, ’05 and ’06, Absalon currently stands tied with Henrik Djernis of Denmark, who took his three world titles from 1992-94.

After taking his third straight world title on a climber’s track in Rotorua, New Zealand, in 2006, Absalon earned the highest praise from the sport’s reigning patriarch, Thomas Frischknecht.

“I think now you can say [Absalon] is the best mountain biker of all time,” Frischknecht said.

Absalon lived up to that praise on the World Cup scene in 2007. With only the September 15 World Cup finals remaining in Maribor, Slovenia, Absalon has already wrapped up the series with four wins.

Still, the quiet Frenchman has been slow to accept the praise.

“No, no – that is very nice but I do not think of myself as the best ever,” the smiling Frenchman said between chuckles. “Maybe the best for right now, but not ever. I am happy to be the best for right now.”

A Cast of Challengers
Djernis battled with the kings of mountain-bike racing’s primordial years: John Tomac, Ned Overend, Frischknecht and Bart Brentjens, to name a few. In Fort William, Absalon will face his biggest challenge from a familiar cast of the sport’s current best. Swiss Christoph Sauser (Specialized) and Spaniard Jose Antonio Hermida (Multivan-Merida) top that list.

Hermida says riding the way he does is in his blood.

Hermida is the only man to have consistently toppled Absalon in 2007 — he snatched the April 21 World Cup opener in Houffalize, Belgium, as well as August’s European cross-country championships in Turkey. Most recently, Hermida won the final round of the Swisspower Cup on September 2. Absalon finished fourth.

The Spaniard’s tactic of choice against Absalon has been to hit the gas early, build a steady lead and try to hold on.

“I am a Latino, I have hot blood and I can go off like a firework," Hermida said after a similar effort failed at the third World Cup of 2007, held in Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec.

Sauser, who was second at the Swisspower race, has never donned the rainbow jersey for cross-country racing as an elite, however the Swiss has been the runner-up to Absalon for the past two seasons. Sauser did take a win at the 2007 world marathon cross-country championships, earning his first-ever elite rainbow stripes. The victory could give the Swiss the confidence he needs to take on the Frenchman.

“I know for the final race of the season many of us hope that we can split things up,” Sauser said. “Before every race I think 'Who can beat Julien? Who can beat Julien?'”

Also figuring in the mix will be a familiar cast of the world’s other top cross-country talent: Swede Fredrik Kessiakoff; Belgian Roel Paulissen; Kiwi Kashi Leuchs and Swiss Ralph Naf.

The battlefield
The 2007 UCI Mountain-bike world championships marks the first time the sport’s biggest annual competition will head to the United Kingdom. Scotland’s famous Nevis range is home to Great Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, and Fort William’s venue at Leanachan Forest has hosted a stop on the UCI World Cup since 2002.

But for the world championships organizers have constructed a brand-new cross-country course — a 7.5km loop called the Witch’s trail. The constructed trail features a distinctly man-made flavor, and winds its way between named obstacle sections, such as “Great Glen Helter Skelter,” “Haggis Trap” and “Witch’s Brew.”

Immediately greeting riders is a 3km stair-step climb that tops out at 250 meters, followed by a winding 3km descent. While organizers have not yet announced the lap totals for women, the elite will likely tackle between five and seven laps.

Women for the title
The disappearance of Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja from the front of the women’s cross-country scene has opened the door for a handful of would-be champions in women’s cross-country racing. The ailing Norwegian, who took the World Cup and world titles from 2004-06, stopped her 2007 campaign after suffering a stomach illness in June.

In her absence Ren Chengyuan of China, Irina Kalentieva of Russia, Spain’s Marga Fullana and German Sabine Spitz battled for the top spot.

Kalentieva comes in as the favorite

The pint-sized Kalentieva has proven to be the best of the bunch so far. The Russian snagged three World Cup victories on her way to securing the overall. Kalentieva was the runner-up to Dahle-Flesja at the 2006 world’s in New Zealand and has shown her abilities to adapt to varied terrain. She comes into the world championships as the favorite.

But Chengyuan and Fullana have proven their abilities to win World Cups in Dahle-Flesja’s absence as well. Chengyuan is the reigning U23 world champion and winner of the June 21 World Cup in Houffalize, Belgium. The veteran Fullana is a two-time world champion, and took the World Cup round in Champéry, Switzerland. Spitz has been winless in 2007 World Cup action, however as the 2003 world champion, the German also knows how to win on the biggest stage.

North Americans in the mix
A handful of Canadian and American cross-country racers hold realistic ambitions of medaling at the 2007 UCI world mountain-bike championships. Chief among those is Canadian Max Plaxton, who brought home the bronze at the 2006 world championships in the men’s U23 race. If Plaxton hopes to bring home the gold he will have to topple the same two riders who beat him in 2006 — Dane Jakob Fuglsang and Swiss Nino Schuter, the reigning U23 world champ.

That’s a stiff challenge — Schurter was often at the front of the elite men’s races in World Cup action, finishing on the podium twice.

Plaxton’s countrymen Geoff Kabush is another man to watch — Kabush claimed the 2007 NMBS cross-country and short track crowns, won the Sea Otter Classic cross-country race and finished third at the World Cup in Mont-Ste-Anne. But Kabush has struggled at the world championships — his best finish was 14th in 2005 in Livigno, Italy.

Canada’s other hope for a world’s medal is with Quebec’s Marie-Héléne Prémont, the silver medalist from the 2004 Athens Olympics. Prémont has not won a World Cup so far this year, however she was second at the No. 5 race in St. Felicién, Quebec.

Jeremiah Bishop was America’s top male cross-country rider at the 2006 world championships — Bishop’s eighth place was the first American top-10 finish since 1995. Bishop, Adam Craig and Todd Wells come into the 2007 games holding aspirations of bringing American another top-10 finish. So does Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, who finished fifth at Fort William’s World Cup round in 2006.

But America’s elite women hold the best shot at scoring a podium placing. Coloradan Georgia Gould, who in 2007 became the first woman since Juli Furtado to sweep the National Mountain Bike cross-country Series, nabbed her first World Cup podium finish in St. Felicién. And Willow Koerber landed on the podium twice in 2007 — at St. Felicién and Champéry.

Stay tuned to VeloNews.com for news and updates from the 2007 world mountain-bike championships in Fort William, Scotland, including a preview of gravity racing events.

2007 UCI world mountain-bike championships
September 3-9
Fort William, Scotland
Cross-country scheduleTuesday, September 4 1:30 p.m. — Team RelayWednesday, September 5 10:30 a.m. — Junior Women 1:00 p.m. — U23 WomenThursday, September 6 9:30 a.m. — Junior MenFriday, September 7 1:30 p.m. — U23 MenSaturday, September 8 10:00 a.m. — Elite Women 2:00 p.m. — Elite Men