Youth & Junior Track Champs
Fast, fun racing was the theme of the weekend, at the two-day Scottish National Youth and Junior Track Championships at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
Zara Main (Deeside Thistle) would enjoy a weekend for the ages, the Aberdeenshire rider adding further medals to a brace won on Saturday, as did Fraser Gemmel (West Lothian Clarion) on the open side. They would be the top performers in the Youth A’s, whilst Kayla Dinnin (Liv Halo) and Sam Martin (Beeston CC) enjoyed brilliant weekend’s in the Junior ranks.
Road
Lauren Dickson (Handsling Alba) continues to go from strength to strength at UCI level, scoring her best result to date at the Tour of Norway. A two-day stage race over hilly terrain, the Edinburgh rider matched the World Tour riders around her to take a stunning second place finishing on the hill top finish on day one. Stage two saw a solo winner wrap up the GC, but Dickson was in a select group of 13 who came across the line together, wrapping up third on General Classification.
Next up, the Tour of Britain Women, which finishes in Glasgow on Sunday, with a stage in Kelso the previous day – be sure not to miss it!
At U23 stage race Course de la Paix in France, Elliot Rowe (Team Visma Development) delivered a consistently strong set of rides to take sixth on the General Classification and fourth in the Young Riders competition thanks to a brace of top 10 finishes.
MTB
The latest round of UCI Mountain Bike World Cup took place in Loudenvielle – Peyragudes, France this weekend, featuring the Downhill and Enduro events.
On the Enduro side there was a huge win for Ella Connelly, besting her nearest rival by some 40 seconds, her winning time 25.22.107 across the timed sections. On the Male side there was also a strong performance for William Brodie who came home sixth, just 30 seconds down on the winner.
In the Downhill competition there was a brace of top-10s in the Elite Female event, Phoebe Gale (Orbea/FMD Racing) coming home sixth, with Anna-Louise Ferguson (Axess Intense FR) in ninth.
Sticking with the MTB, Isla Short enjoyed a trouble-free race to run out victorious in Austria as she builds toward the next XCO World Cup this weekend in Leogang.
Scotland
Back home in Scotland there was also the inaugural round of the Scottish Enduro Series, which was held at The Golfie in Innerleithen. In the Senior Open racing couldn’t have been more exciting, matching the excitement of the opening round; in the end though Christopher Gallagher would take the win by less than three seconds from Henrik Jensen and Liam Clement. In the 19-29 category Eli Shearer (Ride Innerleithen) used local knowledge to come within a whisker of Gallagher’s time, whilst Kyle Higgins (AeBikeShop) and Oscar Baxter would be separated by just a second in the 17-18 category.
In the Female Elite category it was the familiar name of Polly Henderson who would run out a clear winner, with some impressive times over the five timed stages. Special mention for Charlotte Kay (Hope), who while competing in the 19-29 category, would finish just two seconds slower than Henderson.
There was action across the disciplines all over Scotland, with the Regional BMX Series continuing at a pace, the latest round of the FJBC dirt crits, and Thank Crit It’s Friday at the West Lothian Cycle Circuit. Well done to everyone who took part, and given it’s both UK Coaching Week and Volunteers’ Week, a special shoutout to everyone who makes racing happen.