The Scottish riders once again were on their annual race camp in Catalonia to prepare them for a new season, and a bout of superb performances would follow at their first race of the camp, just south in the Valencian town of Chelva.
Freya Mowbray (Scotia Offroad RT) claimed the victory in the UCI Junior Series event. The Scottish Champion took the reigns of the race early on – building a 20 second lead on her nearest rival at the end of the first of four laps. The Scot would maintain that lead through the second lap before extending it to over 35 seconds into the final lap, enough to allow the Edinburgh rider to cross the line with time to spare.
Not to be outdone Olivia Poole (Specialized Youth Dev.) won out in dominant fashion in the Youth race – taking the win by over 30 seconds. In the Boys’ event, Zach Buchan (Pentland Racers) would finish in a strong ninth, Josh Buchan in 16th place, with Guy Rorke in 21st.
Gus Lawson would ride to 13th place in the UCI Junior Series event – fighting for a spot in the top 10 in the field of near 100 riders.
In the elite field, Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale) was part of the four-way battle for the victory. The Crieff rider was alongside teammate Luca Martin as well as Luca Schwarzbauer and Luke Moir in the field at the UCI Class HC event in Catalonia.
Aldridge had been in the lower half of the top ten throughout the first half of the race but was still in contact with the leaders – giving up no more than 10 seconds at any point. A storming penultimate tour had placed Aldridge into the lead and distance many of the chasing riders to leave a battle for the victory, but it would have to be fourth place for the Scot – another strong indication that he will start 2026 in the same vain of form that he finished last season. Corran Carrick-Anderson (Hope Factory Racing) showed his strong credentials to come home in 19th place after fighting his way through the pack in Spain.
Cameron Mason rounded off his X2O Badkamers Trofee with sixth place in the bitterly cold snow of the Brussels University Cross.
The Linlithgow rider headed into the eighth and final round of the series knowing that a strong result would secure third place in the series after Toon Aerts missed the final round. A solid ride on the wheel of series leader Joris Nieuwenhuis was enough for Mason to take third place in the series and go one better than last season’s frustrating fourth place.