It’s been a year-and-a-half since In The Winning Zone last caught up with downhill mountain-biker Ruaridh Cunningham.  At that point, in summer 2007, the then 18-year-old was preparing for the Junior World Championships, being held at Fort William.

Although established on the junior circuit as one of the top riders in the world, what happened that day saw him catapulted into a new stratosphere in the one of the planet’s fastest growing sports.  After storming to a spectacular win in front of a rapturous home crowd at ‘Fort Bill,’ his life changed forever, and the boy from the Borders was set to become a man of the world.

Sponsorship and professional contracts rained down upon the youngster.  His lightning descents on the hill had seen his star rise in the opposite direction, and suddenly there was no ceiling on how far he could go.

As of next month Cunningham will no longer be a teen, turning 20 on February 15th.  So what has been up to since that magical day in the Highlands?

“After winning the Junior World Championships I had quite a lot of proposals from some big teams, so I narrowed them down and decided with Chain Reaction Cycles Intense, which worked out pretty well,” Cunningham tells In The Winning Zone.

“We are a pretty multicultural team.  Chain Reaction is an Irish company and we ride American bikes.  We have an Aussie on the team, then there’s me who is Scottish, a French rider, an English manager, a Welsh rider and Welsh mechanic.  A real mix.  But we all get along and there is a nice atmosphere.  We are all good friends.

“Plus our team manager who arranges everything, they pay for all my flights, hotels and food.  It leaves me to concentrate on the job at hand, which is racing the bikes.  They are the perfect team for me.”

However a month after he signed for the Chain Reaction Intense, at the end of October 2007, disaster struck.  Ruaridh crashed his bhike and snapped his ACL, tore his MCL and bust up the cartilage on his knee. 

“It was on some tracks I had done thousands of tracks in Innerleithen, where I grew up racing,” he reflects.  “I just came down and wasn’t paying attention.  It wasn’t even a big crash but my knee twisted the wrong way and that was it.”

It was the middle of April 2008 before he raced again.  But that wasn’t the end of his problems.   He competed in a few races, gradually improving his performance, but the more he raced, the worse his knee became.  A misdiagnosis didn’t help. 

“My knee held up to begin with, and I had some average results at my first few World Cups, getting back into the swing of things.  I started off with a top 30, then into the 20s, and it was going pretty well.  But in mid-season I started having trouble with my knee again.  I kept going because I was getting faster but my knee was holding me back.

“I managed to break the top 10 in qualifying at the last round in Austria, but by that time my knee was pretty shot, so three days after that I went under the knife, had an ACL reconstruction, the cartilage all cleaned up and I am now 11 weeks into rehab and it’s going pretty well!”

Despite the injury setback however, life on the pro circuit is a dream come true for young Ruaridh.  He is spending six months of the year with several of the world’s top riders, including the famed Aussie, Chris Kovarik. 

“It’s not bad for a first real job!  I did work in Somerfield when I was 16 but it wasn’t for me – I quit the day before I would have got sacked!”

Indeed, there are not many 19-year-olds who live the lifestyle that Ruaridh does.  But he takes it in his stride, and doesn’t let his success go to his head.  In fact, in the space of 18 months he has matured into an incredibly focused, committed athlete with a true sense of purpose and realistic expectations.

“We don’t fly first class, we just get chucked in with everyone else.  Everything is pretty basic but then we get to the race, that’s where we become the rock stars.  You are part of the team and people want you to sign autographs.  That’s pretty cool.

Of course, temptation is always there, but like everything, Ruaridh takes it in his stride.

“Every race has an after party.  And while it’s cool to go out and have a good time, as soon as you wake up the next day it’s back to serious mode.  Mountain biking is my job so I keep all my focus on that.  I like to have a good time, but I’ve said to myself that if I want it really bad next year then I can’t wake up with a fuzzy head on Sunday afternoons.”

Ruaridh’s jet-setting lifestyle takes him around Europe, including stops in Slovenia, Andorra and Austria (as well as Scotland).  Then it’s across the Atlantic to North America, and finally a long trip to the Australian capital, Canberra.

As Ruaridh himself said, he and his fellow bikers are the ‘rock-stars’ of their circuit.  No doubt.  He’s enjoying a lifestyle most young men would envy, competing professionally in a youthful, edgy sport with a cult following, making him popular with both the guys and the girls.

“The Aussie girls like my Scottish accent!” he laughs.

So how big is the mountain-biking fan base in the UK compared to the rest of the world?

“It is really popular in the UK, Scotland especially,” he remarks enthusiastically.  “Places like Glentress and Fort William have really put mountain-biking on the map.  My first World Cups were in 2006, and I’ve noticed even since then that it has been getting bigger and bigger, and more people have been coming to the races.

“The west coast of Canada, in places like Whistler, is where it’s biggest though,” Ruaridh adds.  “I’ve not managed to get there yet, but it’s probably the most popular place in the world for mountain biking.  But considering we have no chair lifts and pretty crappy weather, Scotland’s doing alright!”

So Ruaridh has mixed feelings about his first year as a pro.  Some solid performances, considerable personal progress and the excitement of a first season on the full circuit have been slightly dampened by his niggling knee problem.  But the 2009 season is fast approaching, and it could be the year that Ruaridh Cunningham really makes his mark on the mountain bike world.

“Realistically I want to start the year in the top 20, and as the season progresses I’d like to finish inside the top 15 if not the top ten.  I see that as being realistic.

“When I was a junior in 2007 I was 25th in the senior circuit, and I had a couple of pretty bad events then.  I see that as a benchmark, so when I have my knee back to normal, and now that I’m a couple of years older, I’m very motivated to make it happen.

“I’ve tried to keep my injury pretty quiet.  A lot of people know how bad it was, but a lot of people don’t, and a lot of people doubted me.  It will be quite good to shut a few people up and prove that I’m back to my old self.”

A recent experience on the circuit confirmed to Ruaridh what was expected of him now that he was competing with the big boys.  And it set down a marker for him.

“I always looked up to Steve Peat as a kid, he’s a legend in the sport.  And now I can just go a World Cup and hang out and have a laugh with guys like him.  I can call him a good friend now.  Sam Hill is another guy I used to watch.  When I was 14 he was the top junior and he was amazing.  Last year he came up to me and started talking with me, and the British manager came up to me and said:  ‘We all know who you are now, Ruaridh, get used to it.’ 

“That was pretty cool. I suppose that’s the realisation that you’ve made the top level, that the best riders in the world will want to speak to you.”

However he doesn’t want to be a flash in the pan rider.  Making it to the top is one thing.  Staying there, and continuously improving, is another altogether.  Only true winners with utter dedication will achieve this, and Ruaridh is determined to be one of them.

“I’ve made it professional, but I don’t want to be one of those people who just fades away.  I want to be the best one day.  I’m in it for only one reason and that’s to win. And I’m only going to keep trying harder until I get there, and if I don’t, at least I’ll have no regrets.”

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