Le Tour, it’s so big that we tend to forget that there’s a lot more to cycling than Froomey breaking a spoke and Louis Meintjes, Simon Yates and Rigoberto Uran getting towed around France.
Races like the Under 23 European Track Championships in Sangalhos-Anadia in Portugal where Scotland’s Mark Stewart grabbed not one but two titles – the individual pursuit and omnium.
We last spoke to Mark after the Track Worlds, back in the spring – a series which perhaps didn’t go as well as he’d have liked.
But the Euros could hardly have gone better.
We kicked off by asking about his pursuit win, in the course of which he achieved the fastest ever times by a Scottish rider; two very rapid 4:18 rides, prior to which the best was 4:20 by Graeme Obree back in 1993 on the Hamar track in Norway during his winning series at The Worlds.
“Yes, I was surprised I returned those times because I’ve not actually done much on the track recently.
“I rode 4:18:9 in the qualifying with the fastest two qualifiers going into the final where I rode 4:18:8 to win, beating t