A packed Glasgow BMX Centre welcomed one of their own to the World Cup stage as Cameron Reid made his international debut in the Men’s U23 event.
The Scotsman, by his own admission, was using the event more as learning curve, and with the news that several elite riders would drop down into the U23 event, the Scot was even more determined to make the most of this experience.
In his First Round, the Scot, cheered on by many of his Scottish Cycling Performance Programme colleagues who had come out to watch, was in a tough heat of eight riders. With the top four riders progressing through, the Scot showed some classy riding passing Dutch rider Odin Verhoog in the third bend. However, it was only enough to finish sixth, and miss out on automatic qualification to the 1/8th final.
The Last Chance Qualifier came next, with the Cumbernauld Centurions alumus facing a strong quintet of riders – including the world number 12 ranked Spencer Cole – when only the top two would advance through.
Reid started in lane three, and after a great move on the Canadian Meyer-Clement saw the Scot in contention for a berth through to the next round, but he came up just short finishing in fourth.
The afternoon saw Tokyo heroes Kye Whyte and Beth Shriever in action as well as host of young British talent. The Glasgow crowd had something to shout about in the Men’s Elite final with a brilliant sprint to the line by Whyte to claim an important bronze medal.
As for Cameron Reid, he will look to put today's learnings into practice for tomorrow’s round, which will be streamed live on the Olympic Channel. Reflecting on his performance, the young Scot told Scottish Cycling:
“It was good, it was a bit of an eye-opener for me with it being my first international round, but it was exciting racing and hopefully we’ll be out for more tomorrow
Continuing on the Scottish Cycling performance programme athlete did believe in the advantage that riding at one of his home tracks provided for him.
“It’s so important, even with my not so good gates, I’ve been able to get in and about them with my good track, so it’s been a massive help for me!”
Reid certainly is buoyant about his hopes of continuing to compete at World Cup level, despite the rude awakening by the opposition today:
“It’s just a completely different league, they’re a different breed at this level but with a bit more practice and a bit more training we should be up in there
“I felt good on track, my track speed was good, but I need to string together a bit more of a decent gate. Hopefully with that, I can progress a bit further through”
After the weekend's #BMXRacingWC, we're pleased to say that we've been inundated with people wanting to get involved into the world of BMX.
With two BMX specific clubs in Scotland in Cumbernauld Centurions and Western Titans, there's no reason not to try BMX!
Find out more by visiting the clubs' respective Facebook pages here:
Western Titans BMX Racing Club and Cumbernauld Centurions BMX Club
If you want some more exciting BMX racing to watch, why not come to our #SCNatChamps on Wednesday 8th June at Glasgow BMX Centre.
