A full field took to the start line in a brisk morning in Garelochhead to face the 122km course – with four loops of the Rosneath peninsula near Helensburgh – finishing up the Whistlefield climb.
Three riders fired the opening salvo to set the theme of attacking riding for the day as Tarn Fynn (JG Cycles), Marc Roberts (RT23), Oliver Pemberton (Vanelli Project GO) forged an decent advantage of around 50 seconds over the peloton on the first 30km tour.
The trio would be joined by three more escapees: Richard McDonald (Vanelli Project GO) and the Dooley’s Cycles duo of Ross Clark and Alistair McNicol as they completed the first lap.
A lap later it would be de ja vu – with eight more riders – including John Archibald (HUUB-Wattshop) joining the front of the race.
The race would be instantly transformed on the second ascent of Whistlefield – with Logan Maclean bridging across to the breakaway and instantly attacking just prior.
The defending champion, Maclean, would snap the elastic in the group, with only Archibald and original escape artist Pemberton staying with the Stirling rider on the penultimate lap.
Behind, a concerted effort from the bunch, led by Wheelbase CabTech Castelli and Beeston CC RT, would ensue.
The race would comeback together on the Coulport Road on the final lap – just 25km from the finish. A group of around 20 riders would come together to contest the victory.
A late move on the Kilcreggan climb with around 10km to go would whittle the group down further – but it would be a sprint to the line atop the Whistlefield ascent.
A strong pace would be set, but it would be Sam Chisholm (Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT) that would power away in the final few metres to claim the biggest win of his career. Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase CabTech Casteli) would take second place, despite a late lunge from Logan Maclean in the dying metres – with the defending champion in third.
The final award was the Ian Steel Memorial Cup, donated by Glasgow United CC and Sam Chisholm was delighted to take possession of it for this year.
Female
In the afternoon it was the turn of the women and there were two jerseys up for grabs, the senior and junior titles.
With both defending champions missing this year – there would be two new faces in the national champions’ jerseys.
Pretty much altogether for the first of three laps, until Arianne Holland (Handsling-Alba) would launch an attack on the Whistlefield climb.
Holland would admit afterwards it was only meant to whittle down the field, but it would ultimately be successful.
By the time the race were heading back down from Coulport it was a lead duo of Lulu Bartlett (Team Boompods) with Holland, with a chasing group followed by a second group of six riders a further back.
The duo worked well together through the middle lap with both riders taking long turns on the front – as the chase group which included Jenny Holl (Loughborough Lightning) and Rebecca Saunderson (Studio Velo) – were unable to cut the lead.
As we entered the final 30km lap, the lead of the duo would go north of three minutes – ensuring that the jersey would be heading onto the shoulders of one of the escapees.
An attack by Holland on the Kilcreggan would test the legs of Bartlett, but the Boompods rider would respond with executive order – meaning the race would be decided on the final climb.
Coming up together, it was Bartlett who got the better in a long drawn-out dash for the line and she took the title, much to her delight, a perfect reward as she has battled back from a persistent knee issue over the last couple of years.
Jenny Holl would come over the line best of the rest, besting Saunderson and Evelyn Field (Solas Cycling) in the sprint for bronze.
In the juniors, the win went to Kayla Dinnin (Liv Cycling Club-Halo Films), an excellent ride over the distance, with Harriet Hendry (Solas Cycling) and Eva Murphy (Deeside Thistle) rounding out the podium.
A massive thanks to the team at Lomond Roads CC for organising such an excellent event in Garelochhead, as well as to our team of volunteers and officials for supporting today’s racing.