Autumn made itself known in Lochgelly on a very cold afternoon in the Kingdom, with four National titles up for grabs at Fife Cycle Park.
Lewis Martin (Studio Velo) claimed a brilliant victory from the Senior Open field, in an enthralling race that was settled by a matter of millimetres.
A combined field of senior and junior riders setting off a minute apart made an entertaining spectacle at the Lochgelly circuit with constant attacking all over the 1.6km loop.
Aidan Quinn (Dooleys Cycles) led one of the early attacks, joined by Dan Cutler (ribble rechrg) who had recently made the return to road racing. Eventually, a group would find themselves clear of the senior peloton, with Alex Ball (Project1), Aaron King (Wheelbase), and Sam Chisholm (HUPcc) some of the pre-race favourites notably absent.
Martin alongside aforementioned Quinn and teammate Alastair McNicol were joined by Davie Lines (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli), Ciaran McSherry (05/03), Liam Scott Douglas (JG CC), Alexander McLeod (Deeside) in the gang of eight that were able to pry themselves clear of the field.
The break were able to bridge across to the lead group in the junior race with the leading sextet there competiting for the medals.
As the race entered its final stage, there was a flurry of late attacks, including from juniors Ahron Dick (HUBB) and Evan Marsh (Beeston CC). Nothing would stick however, with the group contesting two pairs of sprints to decide the Scottish Champions.
Ahron Dick and Struan Shaw (Tofauti) would be split by mere inches as the first two across the line, with Dick just managing to take the victory, after the photo-finish adjudicated the finish, with Marsh taking the bronze.
Lewis Martin would come home victorious in the senior race, as he bested Ciaran McSherry by an even tighter margin, with the Dalbeattie rider claiming the National title in a third different discipline, adding to his MTB XC and Cyclocross success. Liam Scott Douglas would sprint to third place.
After a whirlwind few months that included a brilliant Paris Paralympics, and a brace of silvers last week at the UCI Road World Championships, Jenny Holl (Loughborough Lightning) claim another medal to add to her palmares, with a solo ride to victory.
A small female field, stuck together throughout the early part of the race before Holl and Rebecca Saunderson (Studio Velo) forced themselves clear of the rest of the field halfway through the 40 minute race.
In her final race before a well-earned break, Holl rode clear of Saunderson as the race entered the final five tours of the circuit. A lead which the Blair Drummond would extend to add Scottish, to the British, World and Paralympic titles won in 2024.
Behind a battle of the junior title ensued with Harriet Hendry (Solas) and Isla Easto (Solas) in action. Easto would claim the junior honours, after attacking Hendry, and third-placed senior rider Kirstin McDonald (Torvelo), in the final laps.
The day’s activities started with Youth support races in the morning, a Youth C-E Street Sprints before a short criterium on a shorter loop of the circuit at Fife Cycle Park, and a Youth A & B race, check the full results here.
A massive thank you to the volunteers and officials for supporting the Scottish Circuit Race Championships. There are just two road events left in Scotland for 2024, the National Hill Climb Champs on 13th October and the Tour of the Lammermuirs 6th October to round off the season.