Lauren Dickson claimed the first professional victory of her career on the final stage of the Faun Tour of the Ardeche, after a late attack on Sunday afternoon.
A late move with just four kilometres to go distanced Lidl-Trek’s Niamh Fisher-Black and her own FDJ United-Suez teammate Juliette Berthet.
The Edinburgh native, who had finished third on second stage Friday and third stage on Saturday, had been distanced due to an acceleration by Fisher-Black on the final climb of the day, but caught back up to the lead before attacking solo all the way to the line in Peyrus. In an added bonus Berthet would finish second on the stage and take the overall victory, with Dickson finishing in third overall.
Downhill
Fort William was the venue for the final round of the Scottish Downhill Association Series this past weekend, which also doubled as the final in the British Downhill Series.
Sam Conroy (Wheelbase Weldtite DH) took the win as newly crowned-Scottish Champion Drew Carters finished third in the elite open as the top Scot.
There was Scottish success in the elite female field with Emily Carrick-Anderson (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli) taking the win with a 5:27.820, the second fastest female time of the day would come from junior winner Megan Horne. Rosie Mclaughlan (Steampunk DH) would finish second in the Youth race. with the top Juvenile Scot being Molly Sell (Deeside Thistle) who claimed the win on Aonach Mor with a 6:13,676.
Ben Wyvis’ Sam Malcean claimed the junior victory at Nevis Range with a 4:55.430 – winning by just two tenths of a second. The junior categories always decided by razor thin margins.
Arguably the ride of the weekend, however, came from Reid Simpson, he flew down the mountain in the Youth field – winning by 12 seconds with a time of 4:41.664 – a time good enough to have finished second in the elite field. While there would be success for Ty Simpson with the Juvenile win – in a very impressive time of 4:48.707.
Full Results
Falling Leaves Stage Race
The final stage race of the season took place over the weekend with the Falling Leaves in Aberdeenshire.
The crosswinds were strong for the Saturday morning opening test against the clock up to the Finzean Stone, with Sam Carrotte taking the early lead for Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT, from Hamish MacLaren (Immunodeficiency UK) in second and Barnaby Walkingshaw (Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT) in third.
The afternoon’s Stage 1 was seven laps of the AA box loop near Finzean and a never ending climb to the Monument finish, saw Walkingshaw, Edinburgh RC’s Kieran Savage and Zach Seenan (Torvelo Racing) in a three-man break for most of the first five tours. They were caught on the last lap with Carrotte taking a second stage win, with Walkingshaw in second, James Sweeney (BCC RT) in third.
Stage 1 also incorporated the rescheduled Jolibar Trophy, with Martin Reynolds of Aberdeen Wheelers CC taking the win for the best Grampian rider.
Carrotte took a 47 second lead into Stage 2 on a chilly but bright Sunday morning. A slightly reduced field took on the stunning scenery, 20% climbs & descents and the perils of rogue pheasants, blind summits and a cattle grid, with the main contenders in the front group from early on. The Stage 2 sprint finish confirmed Sam Carrotte’s weekend of winning form, with him crossing the line ahead of Jamie Sweeney and Barnaby Walkingshaw.
The overall result was the same as the previous day’s prologue: Sam Carrotte taking the decisive win for the second year in a row, from MacLaren second and Walkingshaw in third.
Thanks to Catherine Smart for organising the weekend of racing, and providing a report.