Scotland’s mountain bikers headed to Austria while there were some great rides in the Women’s Tour and Baby Giro d’Italia on the road. Back in Scotland, Fife Cycle Park held the latest round of the British Youth Circuit Series
Leogang Downhill
The thick mud of the Austrian Alps was a happy Scottish hunting ground as Phoebe Gale (Canyon Collective FMD) rode to a magnificent UCI World Cup victory, with a stunning ride in Leogang. With Gale having finished second twice this season so far, Sunday saw her finally takes her fourth World Cup win and first of 2022.
The 17-year-old Junior was completely dominant in her ride, with a winning margin of over 14 seconds. The Scot will take great comfort that she was also the fourth fastest woman on the mountain on Sunday with her time of 4:28.749 would have been in medal contention for the Elite Women, which bodes well for next season, when Gale will make the jump to the senior ranks. Fellow juniors Aimi Kenyon (Pinkbike) and Beth McCully finished in seventh and 15th place, respectively.
Louise-Anna Ferguson rode to a spectacutlar fourth place in her first World Cup final. The Fort William native who resides in New Zealand ended up on the podium, after she dealt with the mud in brilliant fashion.
Mud on the brakes caused issues for Mikayla Parton in the Elite Women’s, as she rode to 15th place finish. Douglas Goodwill (555 Gravity RAAW) and William Brodie both qualified for Sunday’s final in the Junior Men’s ranks. In the mud that more resembled that of bog than a mountain side in places, the Scots both put in soild rides, with Brodie claiming a great ninth place, while Goodwill finished four places further back.
In the Elite Men’s, the Scottish ranks were one fewer when former World Champion Reece Wilson announced he would take a break from racing. We would like to wish Reece all the best, and that we hope to see him back racing soon.
Greg Williamson (100% Commencal) continued his fine form with a 21st place finish on the mountain, despite having “woken up with a frozen neck” on Sunday morning. Jamie Edmondson (Rock-Shox RT) finished in 51st place
While, Calum McBain, Ben Cathro (Pinkbike) and Scottish National Champion George Gannicott (Greenpower) were both eliminated in qualifying, falling outside the top 60, with McBain in 135th, Cathro in 107th and Gannicott in 88th place respectively.
Gannicott will be defending his national title on the slopes of Glenshee this weekend, as Scotland’s best downhill riders take to the Aberdeenshire for the 2022 Scottish National Downhill Championships.
Cross Country
On the other side of the resort, the Cross Country riders were in action. Creiff’s Charlie Aldridge led the quartet of Scots in the Men’s Under 23 ranks. The former Junior World Champion rode to great 12th place, consistently lapping in the fastest 10 riders in the final laps.
Cameron Mason (Trinity) is still recovering from a nasty gash on his knee, but put in a spirited ride to climb from 61st place to finish 32nd, one place ahead of fellow Scot Corran Carrick-Anderson. While Rory McGuire came home in 46th position.
McGuire will be racing as part of a Scottish Junior and U23 squad in Switzerland next week. Stay tuned to the @ScottishCycling socials for a glimpse of what they get up to.
Women’s Tour
Scottish National Road Race Champion Becky Storrie (CAMS-Basso) rode to a spectacular ninth place finish on the Black Mountain in the Queen Stage of the Women’s Tour. The Scot-Manx rider claimed 15th on the overall general classification and the prize for the best British rider in a field stacked with Olympic and World championship medallists.
Storrie, along with teammate Beth Morrow, were part of a CAMS-Basso outfit, that despite their second-tier status, were one of the most exciting teams to watch in the Women’s WorldTour race. Morrow finished in 46th place on the overall and did not look out of place in the 19-year-old’s first race at World Tour level.
British Youth Circuit Series
Spokes Race Team hosted the latest round of the British Youth Circuit Series at Fife Cycle Park this weekend.
Elliot Rowe (Deeside Thistle CC) was the best of the Scots with a strong sixth place finish, after a third place in the opening time-trial of the two-day four-stage race around the various configurations of the Lochgelly circuit.
Meanwhile, Melanie Rowe (Deeside Thistle CC) claimed victory in the Youth B girls’ event as she won all four stages in over the weekend, her teammate Hope Thomson finished in a credible sixth place. In the Youth B boys, Elliot Speedie (Edinburgh RC) was the top Scot, finish eighth on the general classification following on from his consistent riding.
Youth Tour of Scotland stage winner Erin Boothman (East Kilbride RC) was consistently in the top five as she rode to a great second place in the Youth A Girls’ event, with Molly Evans (Deeside Thistle CC) further back in seventh.
A massive thank you to Spokes Racing Team for organising and hosting another great event at the Fife Cycle Park facility.
Scots Abroad
Baby Giro
The Under-23 Giro d’Italia started on Saturday, with three Scots in action. Sean Flynn (Tudor Pro Cycling) rode to seventh on the opening sprint stage on the Adriatic coast, despite being blocked off in the final 200 metres. Stage 2 saw Flynn finish 14th, with Oscar Onley (DSM Development) also finish safely in the bunch before the race before today’s entry into the mountains.
With over 5000m of elevation gain and 190km of riding, Stage 3 will be one of the hardest stages many of the peloton would have ridden. So much credit must be extended to Alex Ball (Zappi RT) for making it through the stage. As Englishman Leo Hayter won his second consecutive stage, this time by five minutes, Oscar Onley rode to a magnificent seventh on the stage, to rise to eighth on the overall standings, at 7’30” behind the leader Hayter, but only 100 seconds behind second place.
Sean Flynn came home in 69th place and will look to opportunities later in the race, while Ball finished in the gruppetto, but importantly inside the time limit.
Stay tuned to the @ScottishCycling socials for updates throughout the week of their progress.
Trofeo Saarland
Calum Moir made his debut in the Great Britain kit at the Junior Nations Cup race in Saarland, which saw him ride in support for Jed Smithson who won stage 1 and Josh Tarling who was fighting for the overall general classification.
Tour d'Eure-et-Loir
Alfie George (Vendée-U) finished 21st overall at the UCI 2.2 Tour d'Eure-et-Loir in France. The Dundonian based in the West of France will be in action at the British Road Champs in Dumfries and Galloway next week.
