Forgandenny played host to the third and final day of the tenth edition of the Youth Tour of Scotland, with a Kermesse around the grounds of the host venue of Strathallan School. Both Open and Female pelotons would race 15 laps of the 2.55km circuit, which included a punchy climb to the finish, which would decide the destination of the jerseys.
Open
After an incident on the opening lap, which caused a short pause in proceedings, racing got underway with many teams looking to take the race to Yellow Jersey leader Evander Wishart (BC Eastern).
Cycling Ulster, BC South East and BC Yorkshire were among the teams launching attacks throughout the early stages of racing, meaning it was a fast and frantic affair.
Milo Wills (BC South East) and Rian McCrystal (Ulster) gained an advantage of 12 seconds after five tours of the course, with Curtis McKee (Ulster) leading the group of GC favourites. It was at this point though that another crash led to another brief neutralisation, with riders’ times at the stoppage being reflected on the general classification, but it would be the first rider across the line who took the stage victory.
Attacks post-neutralisation came thick and fast with Welsh Cycling riders, especially Finlay Storrie, doing their best to animate the racing in order to isolate the yellow jersey of Wishart.
In the end it came down to a reduced bunch sprint, with Gus Dutton (BC South East) rewarded with the stage victory. Dutton had been among the attackers in the abandoned Stage 2, so he received his just rewards on Monday.
Albie Jones (BC North West) claimed second place on the stage, with Milo Wills rounding off the podium, celebrating the victory for his teammate as he crossed the line.
Female
Following the climax of the open race, it was the turn of the Female peloton with Phoebe Taylor (BC North West) looking to complete her winning streak, after taking the spoils in the first three stages.
The racing was attritional on Stage Four with a group of around 25 riders forcing their way clear of the rest of the field. With the general classification tightly packed between Taylor, and second placed-rider Anna Lloyd (BC South East), the sprint primes would become all important. Taylor claimed the first prime and three seconds, from Lloyd; however, fortunes would be reversed for the second sprint prime.
Despite a number of attacks, nothing was able to stick, with too many interested parties willing to shut down any hopeful stage hunters.
Coming down to the final dash for the line it was Anna Lloyd (BC South East) that broke her run of second places to take home the stage victory, launching early on the climb, powering over the crest of the hill to hold on down the home straight. Megan Cherry (BC East Midlands) and Seren Thomas (Welsh Cycling) closed out the podium of an enthralling encounter, and brought the 2024 edition of this historic race to a close.
Overall
After the riders had showered and eaten, we made our way to the auditorium for both the stage and overall jersey presentations.
Female
Starting with the Female categories, the Wales squad of Aelwen Davies, Bibi Ames, Mabli Philips and Seren Thomas would receive the Pedal Power Team Classification jerseys, fitting given they have worn them all weekend. Second went to BC South East, with BC North West rounding out the podium.
Our hosts Strathallan School sponsored the Mountains Classification, which Emer Heverin (Ulster) successfully targeted. Wearing it going into today’s final stage she cleaned up the points on offer at the end of laps five and seven, to ensure she’d be stood on the top step of the podium in the polka dot jersey. Melanie Rowe (Scottish Cycling North East) and Millie Salmon (BC Yorkshire) would round out the podium.
Sticking with Rowe, she would return to the podium and climb onto the top step this time as she secured the Braveheart Best Scottish Rider jersey, with Ava Luce (SC North Composite) and Eve Fairbairn (SC North East) joining her on the podium.
The Big Bobble Hat Points Classification went to Anna Lloyd (BC South East) her attacking riding throughout seeing her rewarded with the green jersey after claiming the win on the final stage.
With Lloyd claiming Stage 4 honours, it meant that the Impsport General Classification would go down to the wire. Lloyd, and three-time stage winner Phoebe Taylor, were tied on time, after Lloyd claimed ten bonus seconds by virtue of her stage win. However, it was Taylor (BC North West) that would hold on to win the Yellow Jersey, as her Prologue victory divided the riders by a mere three tenths of a second. Wales’ Mabli Philips would round off the podium in third place.
Open
The Impsport General Classification was a much simpler affair, Evander Wishart (BC Eastern) winning Stage One to go into yellow and from there didn’t look back, holding it for the rest of the event. Wishart was on fine form all weekend, second in the prologue and always on the front foot, in moves and picking up bonuses every single day.
As a result, he would also claim the Big Bobble Hat Points Classification and the Strathallan School Mountains Classification to boot.
Wishart would win the General Classification by 19 seconds from Finlay Storrie (Wales), with Albie Jones (BC North West) a further minute back. Storrie would join the dominant Wishart on two more podiums, as he took second in the mountains and third in the points.
Gus Dutton (BC South East) was another man to the fore throughout, fourth overall, but rewarded with second in the Points, whilst Mark Ketteringham (BC Yorks) rounded out the mountains podium.
The Braveheart Best Scottish rider classification would be held from Prologue to Podium by Elliot Speedie (SC East and Central), who claimed the blue jersey by over a minute from Sam Martin (BC Central) and Stage 4 winner Sam Mills (BC South East) in third.
It was an excellent team performance by the Welsh squad, who dominated the Pedal Power Team Classification from the Prologue until the end of the race. The squad of Ollie Tregear, Finlay Storrie, Alex Coles, Sam Stewart-Ball claimed the red jerseys from the BC Yorkshire team in second and the ever-battling Cycling Ulster squad in third.
Full results from the Youth Tour of Scotland can be found at the bottom of this article.
A massive thank you from us at Scottish Cycling to the brilliant army of volunteers that helped make the tenth edition of the race possible, as well as our fantastic commissaries and timing team that managed the race excellently.
Without the support of all of our teams, races such as the Youth Tour of Scotland would not be possible, and we’re very grateful of the support they have provided.
Results