Ben Forsyth CRY Race Day
The first round of the Scottish Cycling Youth Circuit Series, organised by Edinburgh RC, was held at Fife Cycle Park on Sunday.
Riders had cool but dry conditions, with the overnight rain thankfully passing through earlier than expected, a welcome development for the 148 entrants. The Youth A (U16) and Youth B (U14) series events held in the afternoon were preceded by Go-Race stage races for younger riders. Stages were a time-trial, knockout street sprint and a mass start criterium.
In the afternoon, the Series races comprised two 45 min criteriums with Youth A & B riders. The B races were won by Eilidh Scally (Johnstone Jets) and Josh Stewart (SteppingStanes).
In the older categories, Melanie Rowe (Deeside Thistle CC) pulled out almost 40 secs in the closing lap to win her final appearance in the event. The boys race was closer, with the promoting club’s Micah Myles just getting the better of a large bunch. Micah lifted the Ben Forysth Cup, which was presented by Ben’s father Keith. He will be eligible to win it again next year as a first year Youth A.
The trophy is in memory of the late Edinburgh RC’s former Under 16 British circuit race champion. The event is used to raise money for C-R-Y heart screening sessions in Scotland and to raise awareness of the condition.
After the race, Ben Forsyth Cup winner, Micah said,
“I’m very pleased to win today. Some really good riders have won in the past and I kept up the ERC tradition of winning for the fourth year in a row. Thank you to everyone who helped organise”.
His sentiment was echoed by Youth A girls winner Melanie, who added:
“This has got to be one of my favourite races over the years. It’s an honour to compete in this race as it raises money to support CRY which is such a worthy cause. I’d like to thank Ben Forsyth’s family as well as Phil Darby for making this happen. It was great to see so many young riders having fun on their bikes today”
Thanks to Edinburgh Road Club for supplying the race report. Round two of the Youth Circuit Series takes place in West Lothian on Sunday 6th April – enter here.
Road
CiCLE Classic
The Women’s and Junior CiCLE Classic took place on Sunday with two thrilling races kicking off the British National Road Series in Rutland.
The afternoon’s Female race saw the riders take on a 105km route, with the best riders from across Britain in action between Oakham and Melton Mowbray.
Eilidh Shaw (UAE Team ADQ) was involved in the early skirmishes as she looked to better last year’s second place, but her early moves were cautioned on to by the peloton. A late move from Lucy Harris would win the race, with the Scots placing well in the bunch sprint behind.
Neah Evans (Handsling-Alba Development RT) would take third, with Anna Flynn (Spectra Racing) in sixth place. There were strong rides by the Scottish Road Champions, with junior Arabella Blackburn (Shibden Apex RT) in ninth, and senior title winner Beth Morrow (Handsling-Alba) in 11th place; Morven Yeoman (DAS-Hutchison) came home in 15th place.
The morning’s junior race saw some thrilling racing with Scots Evan Marsh (Beeston CC RT) and James Sweeney (Beeston CC RT) both coming home in the top ten, in fifth and eighth respectively.
Milan San-Remo
Mark Stewart enjoyed a day to remember at La Classicissima as he formed part of the day’s breakaway, which in a race of almost 300km, would survive until just 35km to go. One of trio of riders from Italian outfit Team Solution Tech – Vini Fantini he would have amazing support along the route, which was needed in the first half of the race, with conditions cold and wet.
Things did dry up for the last 100km however, which for those who’ve seen it, produced a race for the ages. Sean Flynn (Team Picnic PostNL) would be first Scot home just inside the top 100, with Stewart not far behind.
France
Alfie George continued his excellent start to the season with SCO-Dijion with a rare solo win at the National Elite race the Tour des 4B near Bordeaux. The Scot attacked solo to win by 25 seconds ahead of his teammate, taking his first win of 2025.
He told the DirectVelo afterwards:
“It’s perhaps the first time I’ve won solo since I was 12 years old. It’s the best way to win. I knew my form was pretty good at the start of the season, so, I think my directors and I were expecting a victory. It’s just a pleasure.”
MTB
Isla Short was in incredible form in Serbia – claiming not one, but four wins at the four UCI Serbia Epic Andrevlje races held over the past week. The Peebles’ rider has made a strong start to the season with three top six rides at the Shimano Super Cup in Spain to bolster her preparations for the summer season.
Short was joined on the podium by Grace Inglis. Inglis herself is having an excellently consistent season so far, with not one finish outside the top four in her seven races so far. After a fourth in Round 1 on Thursday, the former Scottish champion scored a brace of thirds over the weekend behind Short, with Saturday’s race being the first ever time two Scots have shared a UCI MTB podium outside Britain.
The start to the season sees Grace Inglis rise to 67th in the UCI Rankings, her highest ever world ranking.