With the bunch still together with a lap to go, the Alba rider, who has been in fantastic form so far in 2024, forced the pace, launching her sprint first, and was rewarded with a superb silver medal. There was also a brilliant ride from first year junior Arabella Blackburn (Shibden Apex RT) who came home eighth, bettering some classy riders such as Jenny Holl (Loughborough Lightning) 12th and Beth Morrow (Alba) 14th.
In the Open race it was a case of so near yet so far for Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli), as FDJ dominated the race, his teammates and the other big teams failing to keep the gap to those out front manageable. Shoreman won the bunch sprint to take a fine fourth place, but will wonder what could have been.
The British Championship week started with the Time Trials on Wednesday, with an in-form John Archibald (Huub Wattbike) suffering the misfortune of a dropped chain, and the unplugging his rear mech when trying to put the chain back on whilst still on the move. He would ultimately DNF, leaving Michael Gill (Richardson Trek) as the top finisher across the various categories, returning from a lay off to take a very credible 11th place in the Elite Open event.
The Road races on Sunday were extremely tough, as they always are, the attritional circuit separating the wheat from the chaff. A number of the top Scottish riders were missing for one reason or another, but Adam Mitchell (Vendee U Pays de la Loire) returned from France and was to the fore the whole day in the Open event, eventually settling for 21st, whilst Kim Baptista (Torelli) was the best placed Scot in the Female race coming home 25th.
50m TT
It would take a lot of searching to find a 50 mile time trial where the top two couldn’t be separated, even with timing going down to the thousandths of a second, but that is exactly what happed at the Scottish National 50m Time Trial Championships on Sunday morning.
To call it a tight race would be putting it lightly, as Mark Walker (Deeside Thistle) and Sam Glover (Elgin CC) both returned an identical time of 1:51:51 and subsequently shared this year’s Scottish 50 Mile TT championship. Glover’s teammate, Daniel Long would round out the podium.
On the female side it couldn’t have been a more different story, Lorna Breetzke (Elgin) winning by some 10 minutes from Margaret McMillan (Deeside). And it was Deeside Thistle who played host to the Championships, with the course taking riders north from the village of Kinneff, past Dunnottar Castle at Stonehaven before turning south down the A90 to Brechin where they double backed, returning to Kinneff.
It was an early start for the racers, with first rider off at 6:30 am, however the conditions soon made up for it, the sun was out, and a light northerly wind produced a fast-rolling course. A big thanks to all who made the racing happen, and hopefully we’ll see more those same riders and more contesting the next Time Trial Championships, the 100 Mile, in Invergordon on Sunday 21st July. Find out more and enter here.
Further south, The British Youth Circuit Series continued in earnest in Wyke, after a Scottish round last weekend, with a trio of riders making further trips to the podium. Andrew Levinson (Edinburgh RC) led the charge, matching his silver medal performance from Fife last weekend in the Open B race, whilst Melanie Rowe (Deeside) Zara Main (both Deeside) took home bronze medals in the Female A and B categories respectively.
On the continent, junior Ahron Dick (Huub BCC RT) enjoyed a brilliant weekend with a third place on Saturday and a sixth on Sunday, the latter scoring good UCI points in the 1.1 La “Classic Région Sud” U19.
MTB
The UCI MTB World Cup continued apace this weekend, the latest round for the cross country riders taking place in Crans Montana, a Swiss alpine resort. Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) was a very solid 16th place in the XCO on Sunday, just a minute off the top 10 and a couple of minutes off the podium, whilst Isla Short (Ghost Factory Racing) was 35th and Grace Inglis 41st, the latter impressing as she steps up to World Cup racing.
Closer to home, round four of the SXC Series took place at Chatelherault Country Park in Hamilton, Royal Albert CC installing two new bridges to create a national level XC course for the first time. There were a number of notable riders in action, Innes McDonald (SORT) first man home to win the Open Junior race in style, with Scottish Champ Lewis Martin (Studio Velo) taking the Elite victory. On the Female side, a mechanical couldn’t stop Daisy Taylor (Royal Albert CC) being the class act and taking the Junior victory, Jo Thom (Sprocketcycles.com) taking the Elite honours.
In the Youth races Daisy Wilkinson would run out winner in a great tussle with SORT teammate Freya Mowbray in the Female race, with Gregor Calvert (West Lothian Clarion) taking the Open win. In the Juveniles, Zach Buchanan (Pentland Racers) and Mairi Dowens (West Lothian Clarion) would take the top steps on the podium.
The SXC series concludes at the start of August – more info on the venue for that one in due course, before the Scottish Champs at Comrie Croft on 1st September. Before then though we hope to see plenty of Scottish success at the British Championships at Dalby Forest in a month’s time.
BMX
Manchester’s Platt Fields played host to rounds seven and eight of the National BMX series, with a strong traveling contingent. Performance programme rider Harrison Bell (Western Titans) contested the Superclass once again, lining up against a stacked field. Harrison faced some tough moto draws making for even tougher racing over the weekend, but gave it his all in every moto, never looking out of place. Harrison ist he youngest in this category at 16 years of age, but still lies 10th in the National Series rankings in his first year racing Superclass.
In the Female 14’s Eilidh Watson (BMX Widow Photography) led out in the final both days, however with some tough competition it was hard to hold onto it. Nevertheless she fought hard, banging bars and carving corners to take silver in R7 and bronze in R8, a superb effort that sees her ranked third nationally. In the Female 15’s, Alexis McCartney (Cumbernauld Centurians) made the B Finals both days and now sits 9th nationally, whilst Cooper McCrum (Cumbernauld) also made the B Final in the Open 14’s on day one, whilst Lewis Collins Nimmo (Titans) made the Open 15’s B Final on day two.
Special shout out to Youth Cluster rider Ruby Warren (Titans) in the Female 12’s who took her first ever national win on Saturday, backing it up with second on Sunday after a near flawless weekend.