Female
Phoebe Taylor (British Cycling North West) was defending the yellow jersey after winning both of the first two stages on Saturday, and so would start as favourite.
The blustery conditions made for some exciting racing with a number of moves attempting to race clear early on, although nothing was able to stay clear of a very interested peloton.
A tailwind up the ‘home straight’ of the 6km circuit, included the KOM as well as the sprint for the line, with the young riders averaging north of 40km/h on the up the hill prime, showing that despite the brutal nature of yesterday’s racing, there was still plenty of gas in the tank.
Ultimately it came down to a reduced bunch sprint, with 39 riders still in the group contesting the final kick to the line. It was that rider once again, Phoebe Taylor, who made it a hat-trick of wins across the first three stages.
The North West rider bested the British Cycling South East duo of Anna Lloyd and Gabriella McHugh – that trio climbing onto the stage podium.
A crash in the bunch did leave riders caught out, however, the 3km rule was in effect which meant that all riders in the front group at that point were awarded the same time as the stage winner.
Taylor also claimed bonus seconds in the sprint to extend her lead in the Impsport General Classification to ten seconds over Lloyd, with Mabli Phlips (Welsh Cycling) in third place, 30 seconds back. Despite those standings, it’s still all to play for in tomorrow’s Kermesse. The three-time stage winner also claims the lead in the Big Bobble Hats Points Classification.
Melanie Rowe (Scotland North East) is still in charge of the Braveheart Cycling Fund Jersey for Best Scottish rider. That jersey is supported by Sandy and Kathy Gilchrist, with the sponsorship donated to Braveheart.
Emer Heverin (Cycling Ulster) rode her way into the Queen of the Mountains classification, after claiming the sole QOM prime, which puts her ahead of Anna Lloyd (British Cycling South East) on countback.
Welsh Cycling continued their stay in the red jerseys of the Pedal Power Team Classification, with a slender lead over British Cycling South East of just 26 seconds, with British Cycling North West also in striking distance just 53 seconds behind the leaders heading into the final stage.
Open
Stage Two of the Open race followed the culmination of the Female race, with several teams wanting to make their presence known after Saturday’s excellent racing.
It was Curtis McKee (Cycling Ulster) who was on the attack once again, despite suffering an early mechanical, and he was joined by Gus Dutton (BC South East), Toby Tombs (BC Eastern) and Daniel Thomson (BC North East), with McKee’s teammate James Armstrong also bridging across.
Unfortunately, due to a racing incident on the sixth of eight tours of the circuit, the stage was first neutralised, and then abandoned. At the time of writing the rider was receiving medical treatment; our thoughts are with him and we wish him a speedy recovery.
Subsequently, there was no stage classification and no stage winner, and the general classification riders have been credited with their times at the end of lap five. The sprint and mountain point primes until lap 5 also counted toward their respective classifications.
This leaves the leaders’ jerseys unchanged with birthday boy Evander Wishart (BC Eastern) in charge of the Impsport General Classification, the Big Bobble Hats Points Classification, and the Strathallan School Mountains Classification.
Elliot Speedie (East and Central Scotland) leads the Braveheart Cycling Fund Scottish Rider classification, and Welsh Cycling continue their dominance of the Pedal Power Teams Classification.
In consultation with officials and team managers, Stage 3, the Team Time Trial, did not take place this afternoon.
Stage 4, the Kermesse around Forgandenny, is set to take place tomorrow, with the brutal 15 tours of the course round the Strathallan campus set to be a fitting finale to the tenth edition of the Youth Tour of Scotland.