A massive weekend of racing saw some of the world’s best travel to Galloway, while there were national series races on the Road, Track and MTB.
UCI Gravel Series – The Gralloch
Some of the world’s best gravel riders descended on Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway for The Gralloch, the latest round of the UCI Gravel Series.
With over 800 riders on the start line, it was great to see such huge numbers take on the 113km test in the Galloway forests.
The men’s race saw victory for Yorkshire’s Connor Swift (Ineos-Grenadiers) but there were strong performances by the Scots. Despite a mechanical, Cameron Mason (Trinity Racing) came home in seventh place, building on his two strong performances in Spain and the Netherlands earlier in the series, whilst Scottish National Hill Climb champion, Louis Moore (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli), rode to an impressive 11th place.
There were also top 40 finishes for James McCallum (META Bike Division) and Davie Lines (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) in 32nd and 35th respectively, with the duo making their way onto the podium, as McCallum claimed the silver medal in the 40-44M and Lines, the bronze medal in the 45-49M category.
Further down the field there was also a top athlete from another sport, with the postponement of the weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas (Alfa-Romeo) took the opportunity to try his hand at The Gralloch, finishing in an impressive 114th place overall.
In the women’s, Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) claimed the victory in dominant fashion, winning by nearly 10 minutes. Jane Barr (Velocity 44 RT) was top Scot with an excellent ride to finish as the ninth-place female and claimed the victory in the 40-44F class, with a half hour advantage over her nearest competitor.
National road race champion Beth Harley-Jepson (Jadan Vive le Velo) came home in 11th place, with Isla Short (Ghost FR) following her home in 12th place, with young Morven Yeoman (Torelli) finishing in a strong 16th place.
Fellow Scots finishing in the top 30 included Natalie Munro (Moray Gravel RT) in 23rd place, Lara Maclean (Falkirk BC) in 26th, Catriona Munro (Ronde CC) in 27th place, Lorna Breetzke – second 40-44F in 29th place, with Sofia Christensen (Galloway Hillbillies) in 30th place.
Congratulations to all of those mentioned above and the literally hundreds of others in action; the top 25% in each age category will receive an invite to the World Championships in Italy in the autumn, where we will hopefully see a fair chunk of Scots take to the start if the Gralloch was anything to go by.
SXC Series
If the riders had anything left from Saturday’s excursions in the south, then they had the option to test themselves at Lochore Meadows for round three of the SXC Series.
Isla Short (Ghost FR) was one of those and produced an excellent ride to claim the victory in Fife, after making a burst away from the rest of the field on the second of five laps. Anna McGorum (University of Edinburgh) finished in second position, 80 seconds behind Short, with Anna Flynn (Cannondale-Spectra) in third place, another 50 seconds further back.
In the men’s, Grant Ferguson (Hope FR) continued his strong start to the season with victory in the Kingdom. Jonathan Pybus (Vanelli-Project GO) came home in second place, with Hamish Crebar (Ryan's Bike Surgery-Thomson Homes) finishing a minute further back in third.
An exciting finish to the junior men’s race saw Ruan Vorster (Scotia ORT) outsprint Ben Allan (Peebles CC) to the win, after the duo tussled for victory throughout the five laps of the course. Milo McIntosh (The Cycling Academy) was in third place.
In the junior women’s Daisy Taylor (Royal Albert CC) claimed another win from Christina McGorum (Peebles CC) in second place.
There was another dominant performance from Innes McDonald (Scotia ORT) as he powered to victory in the Youths by nearly three minutes. Three being the magic number for McDonald, as it is his third victory in as many races of the SXC Series in 2023, to set up a commanding lead in the series standings, a win next time out in Cathkin would seal the title.
Sam Ferry (Peebles CC) finished in second place with a very strong ride, the best part of two minutes clear of the rest of the field, with Gregor Calvert (West Lothian Clarion) winning the sprint for third.
In the girls, Freya Gibson (Peebles CC) recorded her first win at the Youth level, as she won by over a minute from Freya Mowbray (Scotia ORT) in second place, with Isla Queen (Glasgow Riderz) in third place.
Olivia Poole (Deeside) and Gus Lawson (Pentland Racers) were victorious in the juvenile ranks, with both Poole and Lawson making it five wins in a row on the SXC and British Series so far in 2023, with the duo looking in indominable form this season.
Hugh Dornan Road Race
Round two of the Scotia and Alba Series saw the Scottish peloton head to the Rosneath peninsula for a classic staple of the Scottish road scene, the Hugh Dornan RR, organised by Lomond Roads CC.
The men’s race saw James Jobber (EuroCyclingTrips) claim the victory, a feat made all the more impressive by his ninth-place finish on the gravel 24 hours previous.
Jobber was part of a five-man move that made it clear, including series leader Craig Paterson (Spokes RT). The group was well disciplined, and hard-working and kept their advantage to the line, where Jobber out sprinted Ben Pease (Moonglu RT) with young Finn Mason (The Cycling Academy) in third place, Paterson settling for fourth place.
The Scotia Series race saw a close sprint finish from the reduced front group, with Heather Shanks (North Argyll CC) taking the win, with Kim Baptista (Ayr Roads CC) in second place and Arianne Holland (Alba Development RT) in third.
You can read a full report from our friends at The British Continental, below:
National Youth Omnium
For the second weekend in a row, Scotland’s bonniest city was the host for some exciting track racing at the Mark Stewart Velodrome, with the British National Youth Omnium series putting on a show.
Erin Boothman (East Kilbride RC) was in dominant form sweeping up four wins out of four in Dundee, lapping the field twice in the final Points Race to win with panache. Anna Birrell (Edinburgh RC) finished in second, with Thea Aitken (Deeside Thistle) in third.
Luca Bednarek (Kirklees CC) won out in the Youth A boys, with Cillian Lewis (Manilla CC) in second. Struan Shaw (Edinburgh RC) was top Scot in third place.
Home rider Eve Fairbairn (Discovery Junior CC) rode to an excellent victory in the Youth B girls, narrowly edging our Zara Main (Deeside Thistle) after a strong performance in the final points race. Millie Boothman (Glasgow Riderz) was in third place.
The Youth B boys, saw victory from Freddie Winkley (ESV Manchester) after four wins from five events, with Ewan Whiting (Manilla CC) in second. Innes Long (Deeside Thistle) was the best Scot in third place.
A massive thanks to the team at Discovery Junior CC for organising another great track meet at Caird Park.
Rás Tailteann
There was also a packed programme of racing for Scots abroad with the Rás Tailteann taking place over the water in Ireland.
Finn Crockett was in action, guesting for County team Foyle CC, with the Highlander claiming an excellent victory on the final stage into Blackrock. It was just rewards for the Scot who had finished in third and second place in the previous two stages. There was also a just reward in the general classification with Crockett finishing in 12th place overall.
Just ahead of the Strathpeffer rider was Jacob Smith (Wheebase CabTech Castelli) in 11th place, who was strong all race riding in support of teammates.
Ronde van Vlanderen
Over in Belgium, the Hellingen awaited some of Scotland’s best young riders with the junior Tour of Flanders.
Arabella Blackburn (Deeside Thistle) produced an excellent performance in the Great Britain colours, riding to a fantastic fifth place in the U17 ranks. In the junior race, Isla McCutcheon and Isla Easto (JRC-Interflon) as well as Joe Cosgrove (Anexo Group RT) gained some great experience on the Belgian cobbles - plenty more to come from them.
