Anna's Profile

Shackley put a hold on studying for a chemistry degree at St Andrew’s University to concentrate on a career in professional cycling, a move which appears to have paid off with a contract to ride for one of the world’s leading teams and selection to the Great Britain team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Scottish rider showed such potential that Dutch professional road team SD Worx signed her to a two-year contract in 2020, with the option to extend it by a further two years. With SD Worx, Shackley will be the youngest member of the squad and a team-mate of defending Olympic road race champion Anna Van der Breggen although she was unable to start her professional road race career in 2020 due to travel and racing restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Instead, Shackley showcased her versatility in early 2020 by winning two national titles at the British National Track Championship in the points race and the team pursuit, in which she rode for the Team Breeze squad that also featured her Tokyo team-mate Josie Knight.

In Tokyo, however, Shackley will be focusing very much on the road where she was selected to ride with Lizzy Deignan in the road race and, also, compete in the time trial event.

Her success caps a near-lifelong passion for the sport, with Shackley having raced in Scotland from the age of six and competed on the track from the age of 10.

Despite her success in the National Track Championships, Shackley’s focus is now very much on the road and she has already amassed plenty of experience and some promising results.

In 2019, she finished 12th in the UCI Junior Women’s Road Race World Championships in Yorkshire as well as recording a 13th place finish on general classification in that summer’s Women’s Tour of Scotland. There was also a podium finish - third overall - in the Watersley Ladies Junior Tour stage race held in the Netherlands.

A year later, as racing resumed after delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Shackley finished 25th at her debut in the UCI Road World Championships, held in Imola, Italy in September - an event won by her road team-mate van der Breggen.

May 2021 saw Shackley finally able to embark properly on her professional road career, with a 25th placed overall finish in the prestigious Vuelta a Burgos Feminas stage race in Spain, the highlight of her early season itinerary.

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