They say lighting never strikes twice but world mountain bike championship rivals Rachel Atherton and Manon Carpenter might have something to say.
Atherton came out on top at Fort William last year after her 21-year-old rival from Wales missed the first day of qualifying with food poisoning.
But the roles were reversed earlier this year in this season’s opening event in South Africa as Atherton was far from her best after falling ill on the flight out and Carpenter took full advantage to secure her first win in the world championship.
With Atherton, who was born in Wells in Somerset but who now also lives in Wales, coming out on top in the second race of the season in Australia the pair are now level in the rankings going into this weekend’s UCI mountain biking world cup event at Fort William.
Former world cup junior downhill champion Carpenter is eager to restore her lead this weekend.
She said: “Rachel and I have both won one each in the first two rounds of this year’s world cup and we are equal going into this, the third event of the year.
“In some ways this is a bit of a decider, Rachel will wear the leader’s jersey as she won the latest event, but that takes a little but of pressure off of me.
“I have been racing in the world cup for the last four years, I got a second at Fort William last year, so I would hope that I could go one better this time around.
“We had a national competition up there last month and I was feeling good on the track so hopefully I can repeat that form.
“The season has started really well for me so I am really looking forward to competing again at Fort William. Last year I had food poisoning and as a result I missed the first day of practice and wasn’t really at my best, so I will definitely be extra-careful this year.”
Carpenter is confident about reversing last year’s standings when she added: “The track at Fort William suits me well and I have always done well there in the past.
“I am feeling strong this year so hopefully everything goes to plan on race-day and we will see where I end up.
“The weather was great last year at Fort William, so hopefully it will be kind to us again this time, although as we all know it can be a bit hit-and-miss.”