The Route
Sunday sees the Scottish National Road Race Champs, organised by Lomond Roads CC, held on the picturesque Rosneath Peninsula, not far from Helensburgh.
The course will be familiar to many, with the same parcours used annually in the Hugh Dornan Memorial Road Race. The route consists of a circuit of the Rosneath Peninsula with a climb to the finish in Garelochhead at the end of each lap – which is where many a race can be decided.
Open riders will complete four tours of the 30km loop for a total race distance of 122km. Female riders completing three laps of the course, but there will be twice the prize on offer – with both Senior and Junior Female titles up for grabs on Sunday afternoon.
The Riders
Open
Logan Maclean will look to defend his title won in Galloway last August, the Stirling rider having spent much of 2025 focussing on the track, but has claimed wins on the road at the Gifford RR and Perth GP. He comes into Sunday in strong form following a day of attack at the Rutland Melton CiCLE Classic, which saw Maclean claim the Sprints competition.
Beeston CC Race Team have a Movistar-esque trident to play, with Alex Ball joined by reigning junior champion James Sweeney and rising star Evan Marsh. Ball came second on this course at the Hugh Dornan RR last year, while Marsh was the only rider able to stick with Maclean in Perth a fortnight ago.
2023 Champion Tim Shoreman will lead the challenge from Wheebase CabTech Castelli, joined by Aaron King and veteran Davie Lines. Shoreman and King were both on excellent form at last weekend’s CiCLE Classic, with Shoreman scoring an excellent tenth, while King finished in the same group (16th) – working well through the rugged sectors for Scotland sprinter Alfie George.
Another name it would be amiss to ignore is Sam Chisholm (Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT) – one of four riders from the new outfit. Strong challenges too will be launched from the squads of Vanelli-Project GO, who have nine riders on the startlist, and Moonglu Spatzwear RT may involve themselves in the action.
The true wildcard may come in the form of Commonwealth Games silver medallist John Archibald. A previous winner of this title, Archibald has spent the last year focussing on time trialling, the former Eolo-Kometa rider will certainly be dangerous – especially if given an opportunity to use his powerful engine.
Female
Defending Champion Beth Morrow won’t be in action to defend her title, with her and many of her Handsling-Alba teammates away racing on the continent – that could in turn provide a very unpredictable race on Sunday afternoon. However one rider who will toe the line is Arianne Holland, and she’ll be one of a handful of riders with their sights set on a stripey jumper.
Reigning Scottish circuit champion Jenny Holl (Loughborough Lightening) won in Gifford last month and comes into this weekend off the back of a hat-trick of UCI track success at the Good Friday Meet in London – can she add the road race title to her lengthy palmares?
Lulu Bartlett (Team Boompods) claimed silver in 2024, and will look to take the next step on the podium in Argyll on Sunday, whilst Rebecca Saunderson (Studio Velo) showed strong form at both Gifford RR and the Perth Grand Prix, making the key moves in both races to finish on the podium.
Junior rider Arabella Blackburn (Shibden Apex RT) was able to best all the seniors in the sprint down at Newton Stewart last year, and the multi-disciplined rider will be looking to replicate that feat on Sunday. Don’t rule out a triple threat from Solas Cycling riders looking to take the junior jersey from Blackburn though, with Harriet Hendry coming into the race after a strong ride to fourth in Perth.
Previous Winners
Senior Open
- 2024 – Logan Maclean
- 2023 – Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli)
- 2022 – Matti Dobbins (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli)
- 2021 – David Duggan (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli)
- 2019 – John Archibald (Ribble Pro Cycling)
Senior Female
- 2024 – Beth Morrow (Alba Development RT)
- 2023 – Eilidh Shaw (Alba Development RT)
- 2022 – Beth Harley-Jepson (Jadan Vive le Velo)
- 2021 – Becky Storrie (Team OnForm)
- 2019 – Jennifer George (Torelli)
How to Follow
It’s set to be a full day of racing in Garelochhead with the Open race off first at 9:30am, before the Female Championships’ are up for grabs in the afternoon. That race starts at 2pm.
If you can’t join us on Sunday, don’t worry; we’ll have you covered with live updates on social media via our Instagram, FB Stories and Twitter pages – make sure to follow us @ScottishCycling.
We’ll wrap up all the racing with reports and interviews on our website on Sunday.
If you’re out and about and capture some of the action – feel free to tag us @ScottishCycling on social media. We hope to see you there.