If there was one rider from the Youth A field to focus on heading into the race, it was defending champion Aisling Charlesworth.
Charlesworth – who claimed the top step of the podium in Perth twelve months ago – would be the final rider on the course on a blustery Friday afternoon.
That prediction would bare fruit, with a storming ride up the mountain – at the first intermediate time check the Fibrax Fenwick’s Wrexham CC rider would be 10 seconds ahead of the nearest rider. At the finish line, the lead would be extended further. Her time of 14:37 would blow away the fastest time at the finish set by Carys Hughes (Secret Training) of 15:14.
Olivia Smallshaw (Secret Training) would finish in third place nine seconds further back while Olivia Poole (Specialized Youth) would be the top Scot in fourth place, her time of 15:29 keeps the Invernesian well and truly in podium contention and she will wear the Braveheart Blue Jersey in tomorrow’s race.
Oliver Williams (Risca Riders) set the early pace in the Youth A open – with his time of 13:14 which would be bettered by Shibden Apex RT’s Andrew Levinson by a single second over the eight-kilometre course.
Levinson, the Scot, would sit in the hotseat for a fair while but it would be the Manx rider Daniel Minay (Team RL 360 Isle of Man) who would take stage honours and take the Impsport yellow jersey.
Minay, who comes into this week after a strong fourth place finish, at the Flux 2-day in Wales last weekend, recorded the fastest time of the day – his 13:09 enough to best Levinson by over three seconds.
There would be an excellent performance from Red Johnson to take the time trial victory in the Youth B open. His time of 13:57 over the course would create a 12 second advantage for the 360cycling rider over Lukas Humplik (Beeston CC). Ben Clarke (Ilson Velospeed) would sit third on the stage podium, five seconds further back.
Elizabeth Whall (Colchester Rovers) would win the female time trial by 15 seconds, with a time of 15:19.
Johnstone Wheelers’ Eilidh Scally produced a storming time of 15:35 which would only be enough for second. The Scot would take some solace in being top Scot and the blue jersey with it for Saturday’s stage two in Forteviot.
Looking to build on sixth place last season, Evie Cox (Palmer Park Velo RT) would ride to third place in the opening test, ten seconds behind Scally.
Tomorrow’s stage two sees the race return to the village of Forteviot for the traditional road races, but with added laps for all fields and a new summit finish to add even more interest for all the categories.
You can follow the coverage of the racing on the Youth Tour of Scotland Facebook and Instagram pages.