Saturday morning’s 1.6km prologue was the same course as 2022 and saw the riders riding an out and back course in Forteviot. The weather had held off, with only slightly damp conditions for riders to worry about as the morning progressed.
Open
The early pace was set by Evander Wishart (BC Eastern) who was the second out on the course. However, it was Harry Speak (BC Yorks) that came out all guns firing with a rapid finish to claim the Prologue with a blistering time of 2:55.144 for the 1.6km course. James Armstrong (Cycling Ulster) took the final spot on the podium.
There was an excellent team performance from Welsh Cycling to claim the lead in the Team Classification, while Elliot Speedie (East and Central) lived up to his name as he was top Scot and went into the Blue Jersey.
Female
Phoebe Taylor (BC North West) claimed the stage win and the yellow jersey after just pipping Anna Lloyd (BC South East) by a single second in the Prologue, with Welsh rider Mabli Philips two seconds further back in third.
Melanie Rowe (North East) came home in 12th place, and was the top Scottish rider, going into the blue Braveheart jersey. While it was double delight for Wales as they claimed the lead in the Teams Classification.
Stage One
Open
Lunchtime brought about Stage 1 for the Open peloton, with the best part of 70km of racing to take in over the nine laps of the course.
There was no détente in the bunch as Ulster’s Curtis McKee attacked off the front of the peloton immediately from the flag drop. Normally, an attack such as this one would be promptly snuffed out by the peloton, however McKee managed to grow his advantage to around 30 seconds after the first tour of the course.
Strong rides from behind meant that the attack would eventually be brought back, with four more escapees attacking off the front – Mark Ketteringham (BC Yorkshire), Oliver Thorpe (BC East Mids), Rian McCrystal (Leinster) and Charlie Brennan (BC North West), with this seeming to be the key move.
Evander Wishart (BC Eastern) would bridge across to the leaders, who would eventually be whittled down to two alongside Ketteringham. The Yorkshire rider tired as they entered the final two laps, with the wind picking up significantly, which would set the tone for the afternoon.
Wishart would push on, and ride the final 8km solo, to take home an excellent victory, after being on the attack all day.
Behind, there was counter moves with Finlay Storrie (Welsh Cycling) and Harley Widdowson (BC South East) both breaking from a much reduced peloton in the final stages with impressive attacks.
The front three came in individually, with Wishart winning from Storrie by 11 seconds, with the fast-finishing Widdowson eight seconds further back. Two more riders came home 52 seconds behind the stage winner, with the remaining vestiges of the peloton over a minute back, with only 27 riders finishing within three minutes of the winner.
The front three swept up the time bonuses and went into the top three of the general classification. Wishart’s efforts providing him with a 19 second lead over Storrie to defend, with Widdowson a further 11 seconds behind heading into tomorrow’s Team Time Trial.
In fact, it was a clean sweep of the individual classifications from Wishart, with the Yellow Impsport Jersey going his way as well as the Big Bobble Hats Points Jersey, and the Strathallan School King of the Mountains lead.
There was a strong ride in the peloton too from Elliot Speedie, which kept him in the Braveheart Jersey for tomorrow. While Welsh Cycling extended their lead in the Pedal Power Team’s Classification with a strong team ride, they lead BC Yorkshire by 41 seconds before tomorrow’s Team Time Trial.
Female
The wind had significantly increased by the time the Female field started for their scheduled six tours of the Forteviot circuit, and it was clear from the flag drop, that it would make its presence known to the riders.
Six riders attacked early on, and had caught the yellow jersey of Phoebe Taylor (BC North West) out, with several of her GC challengers in the move, including three riders from the BC South East team.
Taylor and two others managed to bridge across while the gap was still manageable, just as the group splintered, leaving six at the head of affairs as they entered the second lap.
The other riders in the group were Melanie Rowe (North East), Anna Lloyd (BC South East), Mabil Phllips (Welsh Cycling), Aelwen Davies (Welsh Cycling) and Millie Salmon (BC Yorkshire).
The group worked well before Salmon dropped out due to mechanical at the start of lap four, however by this point conditions were becoming increasingly treacherous, with many riders particularly struggling in the crosswinds at the start of each lap, so the decision was made to curtail the race by one lap, with riders notified.
The five in the break seemed content to duke it out in the sprint, with Taylor narrowly beating Lloyd to the victory, with Rowe coming home in third. Davies and Philips rounded out the top five.
Their lead once over a minute on the peloton had been drastically cut to 25 seconds on the line, with a detemined bunch.
It was delight for Taylor, who worked very hard to make the break, and even harder in the sprint to claim her second stage win and extend the lead in the Impsport General Classification to four seconds to Anna Lloyd, with Philips at 15 seconds.
Melanie Rowe was in fifth place and extends her lead in the Braveheart Best Scottish Rider classification; Rowe will also lead the Strathallan School Queen of the Mountains jersey, after scoring points on the second QOM point of the day.
Taylor, meanwhile, will claim the Big Bobble Hats Points Classification lead; while Welsh Cycling maintain their lead in the Pedal Power Teams Classification, with all eight of their riders in both fields in the all-red jerseys tomorrow morning.
Results
Prologue – Open | Female
Stage 1 – Open | Female
Tomorrow sees two more stages taking place in St David’s with the Team Time Trial in the morning followed by Stage 3’s road race in the afternoon.