National Road Race Championships

A few weeks ago I travelled to Lazonby in Cumbria to race the National Junior road race champs. I decided to head up the day before the race to have a look at the course, and managed to ride a few laps of the circuit. Although I'd heard that the course was going to be rolling, I didn't quite anticipate it to be as lumpy as it was. The race would be held over 7 laps, totalling 112km. 

The following morning, I pinned my race number on before heading on a brief pre-race ride. I later lined up ahead of the 10am start. After a 1.7km neutral zone, racing got under way. There were a few attacks early on, but nothing seemed to stick. After around 10km, myself and fellow ODP riders Chris Lawless & Matt Gibson attacked at the end of first lap and managed to gain some time on the bunch. We worked well together, as the three of us lead the race for another 2 laps.

      Myself, Matt Gibson & Chris Lawless away during the third lap

As the race progressed, we were joined by several chasing groups. However, this group eventually got smaller as we neared the second half of the race. Knowing that my sprint isn't particularly strong, I knew that I had to try and get away before the finish or at least ensure the group got smaller.

I attacked from the group with around 15km to go, before being joined my Matt Gibson & Chris Lawless again. We were later bridged to by fellow ODP riders Tao Geoghegan Hart & Gabriel Cullaigh. Things got quite tense during the final stages of racing, with some real committed attacks. Unfortunately for myself, it came down to a sprint finish, and I took 5th. Congratulations to Chris on becoming National Champion, very well deserved. 

Following Nationals, I had my last A-level exams to do before heading up to Glasgow for a training camp with the ODP. This was our first track focused camp in a while, after a successful block on the road with the Nations Cup events. It was good to get back to team pursuiting in preparation for the Junior World Track Championships, which will be held in Glasgow during August. 

Track centre at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow

My next training camp is in early July, which will be used to select the team for the Junior World Track Championships. 

Thanks for reading,

Scott. 

Photos: Andy Lloyd

Trofeo Karlsberg Nations Cup

Having recently raced Axel Tour in the Netherlands with the Welsh team, last week I was selected to represent GB at Trofeo Karlsberg, a round of the UCI junior Nations Cup. I travelled to Germany with the team on Wednesday ahead of the first stage on Thursday afternoon. Trofeo was a four day race with five stages, mainly based around Strabenrennen. After a pretty long journey & a quick ride, I was  glad to get to bed that evening. 

After a  quick recce of the hilly time trial course on Thursday morning, we rode to the start of the first stage at 4:30 in Erfweiler-Ehinglen. We did the usual team sign-on & presentation before a gear-check & lining up. Racing got under way in what was a fairly straight forward stage. With about 17km to go, I decided to try and get up the road just before the approach to the finish. Initially I got a gap on my own before being bridged to by a Russian, Norwegian and an Italian. We worked well together, opening up a gap of up to 32 seconds on the bunch. For the last few kilometres, I could see the bunch as I glanced over my shoulder. With just under a kilometre to go, the gap had reduced significantly, and unfortunately for me I was caught with 350 metres to go. 

Despite my initial disappointment having been caught so close to the line, the team still came away with a good result with Chris & Germain both finishing on the podium. We also won the team classification for the stage. 

Bad weather on Friday certainly made for a tough stage, with the rain making it especially hard to see in the bunch. Some real fast descents became even more unnerving whilst trying to slow down on wet carbon rims. The stage was fairly straight forward, with a few breaks going but nothing gaining any substantial time. By the last lap, all the breaks were brought back ready for the bunch sprint. After a good lead out, Chris won the stage which meant that the time bonus put him in the yellow jersey. It was also a bonus that we held on to the team classification lead. 

Saturday was a double day, with a 11.6km TT in the morning, followed by a 80km road stage in the afternoon. It was a fairly hilly TT compared to what I've raced in the paced, with some fast descents too. The TT went ok, however not one of my best performances. I finished 17th in that stage, which would shape the GC for the rest of the race. Fellow ODP rider Matt Gibson had a stormer, finishing 9th on the stage.

Thankfully, the weather had improved for the afternoon stage and we set off from Homburg. Again, this stage came down to a sprint finish. We did an good lead out from around 2km out with Chris finishing 2nd and Germain 3rd. We also won the team classification for the stage.

 The last stage on Sunday was 100km, starting & finishing in Walsheim. The main aim was to defend both Chris & Matt's top 10 position on GC, and for Tao & myself to hold on to a top 20 finish. We also needed to ensure that Chris won the green jersey by making sure the intermediate sprint points were not won by the rider in second place in the sprint competition. The last stage had some tough climbs in it, as some of the course was the TT in reverse. One threatening breakaway got away towards the tail end of the stage, however we were represented in it with Tao Geaghegan Hart. That break was eventually brought back and by that point we knew that Chris had won the points jersey. As we approached the finish line for the final time, things started to heat up with around 1500m to go. Unfortunately, Germain & Joe were caught up in a crash during the final km, but luckily they were ok. Tao positioned himself well & took 3rd on the stage. We also won the team classification for the stage, however lost out on the overall team classification to the Danish team. 

Following the podium presentation, we headed back to the hotel to change & for a quick meal before beginning the long journey home to the UK. Although a bit sad that Trofeo was my last Nations Cup as a junior, I really appreciated the opportunities I've had to represent Great Britain this season. A big thanks to Matt Winston, Martyn Ashfield & Kathryn McClelland for all of their help in Germany, and to Dolan bikes for all of their support.

My next aim is working towards selection to represent GB at the Junior World Track Championships in Glasgow, and the World road & time trial Championships in Italy during September. 

Thanks for reading,

Scott.