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