A combined field for the senior and junior championship led to some exciting racing.
The field kept tightly together throughout the opening scratch race until the final lap, Eve Fairbairn (Liv Cycling Halo Films) claimed maximum points by taking the sprint, closely followed by Solas Cycling’s Molly Evans, with Alison Winship Mackay (Team Ohten Aveas) in third.
A proud moment for host club Discovery Junior CC in the elimination race, with the final sprint between two of their alumni – Fairbairn taking on Abigail Chaplin (Ride Revolution Coaching), with the two relegating Evans to third. Fairbairn would make it two wins from the opening two events, with Chaplin in second – mounting her own campaign for the senior medals.
Winship Mackay launched an early attack in the tempo race – where points are awarded at the end of each racing lap. The masters rider was joined by event leader Fairbairn, with the duo swapping turn on the front to pick up points on alternate laps. The pair would eventually lap the field – with Fairbairn consolidating her lead, and the Team Ohten rider atoning for her early exit from the elimination race.
Fairbairn pressed on in the final points race, setting a tempo only Winship Mackay could follow. The Angus rider taking maximum points in every sprint to claim her first senior Scottish title. Winship Mackay claimed a creditable silver that she looked set for once the pair had lapped the rest of the field.
Behind, the battle for bronze was fraught Jude Paterson (Team Ohten Aveas) and Anna Fairweather (Ride Revolution Coaching) were picking up minor points in each sprint, slowly but steadily chipping into Molly Evans lead in third.
Evans had managed to make contact with her two medal riders come the final two sprints – as the whole race came back together again. Key points gains in the final sprints was enough to hold off Fairweather and Paterson for bronze by eight points. Abigail Chaplin would take the junior female silver medal.
A unique race situation led to one of the most bizarre points races to finish an omnium you’ll ever see in the senior open.
Oliver Gibson (JG Cycles CC) and Nico Anelli (Ride Revolution Coaching) traded wins in the scratch and elimination race to leave them on 78 points a piece heading into the tempo race. Behind the battle for bronze would be between Lukas Mearns (Discovery Junior) and Gavin Shirley (The Rabble); the pairing following suit in swapping third places in the first two events.
Anelli and Gibson would hop off the front of the race in the tempo, the two trading lap gains – meanwhile Mearns had strategically won a brace of sprints after he and Shirley were lapped – ensuring third in the event. Gibson won the penultimate sprint to draw level at seven points a piece in the event with Anelli, however, he immediately paid for his effort with the Broughty Ferry native claiming the final sprint and heading into the lead with the final 30 lap points race remaining.
The points races started ordinarily enough with Gibson taking five points from the opening sprint, Shirley three, Mearns two and Anelli one. That would leave Anelli two behind Gibson, and Mearns now just one ahead of Shirley in the battle for bronze.
Now, this is where things get a bit weird.
The two pairs split apart in the race, with Gibson and Anelli ahead clearly chasing the title, with Mearns and Shirley fighting for bronze.
However, because the two groups of riders were focusing on each other, the pace dropped significantly to almost a walking pace at several moments in the bronze group. Each sprint would effectively be a match sprint, with no incentive to keep the pace high like you would see in a bunch race with a large field – it was in Mearns’ interest to reduce the speed and either force Shirley to the front or jump him in the sprint every fifth lap.
The strategy worked for the Discovery rider; he kept a comfortable margin to Shirley so that come the final sprint the local rider would take bronze, despite losing three laps to the leaders in the final points race.
Meanwhile in the battle for gold Gibson and Anelli traded blows, but the momentum was with the JG Cycles rider who held a small lead heading into the final. A late puncture from Anelli burst late hopes of revival for gold. Despite not losing a lap – a crucial sprint had been mopped up by Gibson, and Anelli was unable to respond to any late move in the final sprint – paying for efforts after a lengthy chase back on to Gibson’s wheel.
Coming across the line, raising his hands in celebration, Oliver Gibson knew he had done enough to claim the Scottish National Omnium title, with Anelli taking solace after an excellent effort for silver.
Manx rider Daniel Minay planned on making the most of his weekend in Scotland’s Premier City™️. Despite missing out on a full day of racing on Saturday, due to rain curtailing proceedings at the National Youth Omnium round, the Team RL 360 Isle of Man rider could take some comfort in his win in Sunday’s Scottish Championship Youth A open omnium. The Manx rider was not eligible for a championship medal but an excellent ride from him nonetheless that included a lap gain in the final points race.
After claiming victory in the 800m time trial and the scratch race, Edinburgh Road Club’s Micah Myles would take the gold medal. The Lothian rider would defend his gold medal position throughout the final 12km points race – despite a number of moves from Johnstone Jets’ Rueben McLardie and Josh Stewart (Harrogate Nova) to dislodge him.
McLardie had caught Myles napping in the penultimate sprint – meaning that a final sprint win, with one rider in between would be enough to claim gold for the West coast rider. Myles late effort was enough to dispell any notions of late turnaround. McLardie would take silver, with Stewart in bronze.
Zara Main (Deeside Thistle) was in imperious form to win the Youth A Female Scottish title. The Aberdeenshire rider built a sizeable advantage after winning the time trial and the scratch race, however there was an Auld Reekie scrap for the medals behind.
Lucy Sweeney (Edinburgh RC) was in second place before the points race, but was distanced in the final event, with her clubmate Izzy Barbour making inroads to claim silver. Sweeney would just do enough to hold off Sarah McCormac for the bronze medal by two points.
Eilidh Scally (Johnstone Jets) was the one Youth B rider able to stay with the front Youth A group – more than enough for Scally to take the gold, with Southport CC’s Olivia Laing taking the silver medal.
Freddie Ball of Deeside Thistle made the Scratch Race very interesting in the Youth B open event. The North East rider stole a march on the field and powered through to take a lap gain – a very impressive feat at the 401m Caird Park track, especially on a day where the wind was present.
The lap gain as well as a very steady performance in the points race was enough for the Deeside rider to take the title. Alsadair Ogg (Johnstone Jets) pushed Ball all the way in the points race and would be rewarded with a silver medal for his efforts. Cobey Stewart (SteppingStanes) would do just enough to take bronze.
There would be more success for the Stewart family Mitch Stewart taking the Youth C gold medal from Magnus Ogg, with Kier Campbell in third place. Isla Sim would win the Youth C Female gold from Sophie Tomb in second and Charlotte Jones in bronze.
A massive thank you to the organising club at Discovery Junior CC and to all our volunteers and officials for making Sunday’s racing possible.
Next up is the Scottish Youth and Junior Track Championships on 30-31 May at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome – an event you can enter here.