With the inaugural 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships on the horizon, Scottish Cycling has been working to ensure that some home grown talent is part of the action.
With the inaugural 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships on the horizon, Scottish Cycling has been working to ensure that some home grown talent is part of the action. Today, mountain bikers Anna Flynn and Anna McGorum are one step closer to achieving their dreams of elite mountain bike success as they are accepted onto the Great British Cycling Team Mountain Bike squad. Both riders represented GBCT at the 2020 UCI MTB World Championships in Leogang and are keen to make their mark on the world stage in 2021 and beyond.
Scottish Cycling MTB Coach Paul Newnham said, “It is great to see more Scottish riders progressing onto the GB performance pathway and we will work in close partnership with GBCT to help facilitate their development in Scotland”.
Anna Flynn was brought up cycling and shares her competitive streak with older brother and fellow GBCT rider Sean Flynn. Anna rode for Edinburgh RC at both Scottish and British level, placing second at the Scottish National XC Championships and second junior at the HSBC UK National Cross Country Championships in 2019. As part of the Scottish Cycling MTB Performance Programme, Anna raced internationally when Scottish Cycling took a group abroad to race in the summer, riding into a top 10 finish at the UCI Junior Series XCO in the Czech Republic.
Anna Flynn said, “I’m thrilled to have been selected on to BC senior academy this year and can’t wait for the opportunity to race at XC World Cups in the upcoming MTB season!”
Peebles born Anna McGorum started cycling aged six building her strength and endurance at dirt crits. Anna has been a regular feature on top of the podium at the Scottish Cross Country Series, winning the first and only race of the 2020 season at Beeraigs Country Park. On a national level her talent shone with a third place at the HSBC UK National Cross Country Championships racing again the best MTB riders in the UK. Internationally Anna saw success, placing 5th at the UCI Junior Series XCO in Banyoles in 2019 and 7th at the Argovia Vittoria-Fischer Cup, Langendorf in 2020.
Anna McGorum said: “I am really excited to have been selected as part of the Great Britain Cycling Team for the 2021 season. Hopefully, the current situation will improve, and we manage to get a more packed race calendar than last year. Regardless of what happens, I am looking forward to the opportunity of working with both Scottish Cycling and British Cycling to see where I can take myself as a rider”.
Stephen Park, Performance Director at British Cycling, said: “We are pleased to be welcoming two more Scottish riders onto the Great British Cycling Team’s mountain bike squad. Both riders have both successfully represented Great Britain on the world stage and I look forward to supporting their development in both training and competition.”
The team at Scottish Cycling is looking forward to seeing both riders excel as part of the Great Britain Cycling Team.
