Gold to Graves at Fort William

After finishing seventh at the BMX World Championship in China last weekend, Jared Graves showed his versatile skills by taking a win in the 4X final at the third round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Series in Fort William, Scotland, this past weekend.

"I haven't won here for a couple of years," said Graves. "I love this course but it's always hated me and with so many quick guys you never know what's going to happen, so to get the win is just great."

The 25 year-old Graves is ranked number two in the world in BMX, in which he hopes to gain selection for the Olympic Games in Beijing, but he also boasts a solid resume of mountain bike results including a silver medal in the 4X at the 2005 World Championships.

The 4X event in Fort William was raced in warm, dry conditions not usually experienced on the Nevis Range course, and Graves made the most of them to qualify fastest. He headed into the final as the man to beat despite admitting last weekend he would be training through this World Cup and the World Championships in Val di Sole in Italy in preparation for BMX in Beijing.

See Cyclingnews' full coverage of the elite men's and elite women's 4X Fort William World Cup.