Friday, April 26, 2024

Tag: Dave Rayner Fund

Interviews

Stuart Balfour – Back to Blighty with Ribble Weldtite

After six years racing on the continent, Stuart Balfour has decided to head back to Blighty and a change of race scene with the Ribble Weldtite team for 2022.
The VeloVeritas Years

The VeloVeritas Years – 2020: Locked-Down on Etna

We didn't get to very many races in 2020 due of course to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the clear memory of this year is of everyone simply trying to do their best to get through this awful situation. Even when riders were locked-down they were finding ingenious ways and methods to keep fit and maintain that hard-won condition, but with constant uncertainty around dates for a return to competition, it was a difficult balancing act.
Interviews

Hugh Carthy – “I knew with more racing and appropriate rest I’d get stronger”

Englishman Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) took his first Grand Tour win on Stage 12 of La Vuelta a España yesterday, attacking just outside the final kilometer of the legendary Alto de l'Angliru, soloing to the finish in a fantastic display of measured, determined riding.
Interviews

Tony Mills – 1960’s Pro, Dauphin Sport Owner, and Helper of Many Riders

With little to write about in terms of current Scottish racing we’re staying on the Retro Trail; going back a little before even my time – to the 60’s and Mr. Tony Mills who’s still involved in the sport, helping Dave Rayner Fund riders find their feet in La Belle France.
Interviews

Calum Johnston – 12th in the (Baby) Giro Ciclistico d’Italia

The ‘Giro Ciclistico d’Italia’ (or ‘Baby Giro’ as it’s popularly known) along with the Tour de l’Avenir and Giro Ciclistico della Valle d’Aosta, is one of the most important stage races in terms of a u23 rider wishing to ‘step up’ to a pro continental or World Tour team. In a sterling 12th overall in this tough race was Scotland’s own Calum Johnston riding for the Holdsworth Zappi Team.
Interviews

Stuart Balfour – Taking it One Race at a Time

Dave Rayner Fund 2018 ‘rider of the year,’ Heriot man, Stuart Balfour has been busy, post-lock down. There have been two top 10 stage places and a seventh on GC in the highly rated UCI 2.2 Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc; then a stage win and second on final GC in the GP Pays de Montbeliard – both race taking place in la Belle France.
Interviews

Lewis Askey – Signed with Groupama-FDJ then Locked Down

We’ve been big on the ‘retro’ lately – for obvious reasons – but with the season starting to come back to life we’ve been speaking to one of the ‘men of the future’, Lewis Askey. Askey is just 19 years-old and probably best known for winning the 2018 edition of the junior Paris-Roubaix; for season 2020 he’s with Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ, based in Besancon.
Interviews

Calum Johnston – Locked-down on Etna

It’s a wee while since last we spoke to Scottish ‘Zappi Man’ Calum Johnston who’s out there in Bella Italia, chasing the dream - but when we heard he was stuck on a volcano in Sicily we just had to learn more.
Interviews

Dylan Westley – Developing as a Rider and a Person with Equipo Lizarte

Stepping up from the Junior ranks to compete in the u23 category is a big deal for any young rider, but to combine it with moving to a new team as well as living away from home in a different country takes courage and a rock-solid belief in your ability - qualities talented 18-year-old Yorkshireman Dylan Westley has in spades.
Interviews

Harrison Wood – Moving up to SEG Racing Academy for 2020

It’s not just any youngster who gets a ride with the Dutch SEG Racing Academy but ‘Brit’ Harrison Wood, who recently finished a solid top 10 in the Chrono des Nations, will be riding in SEG colours for 2020.
Interviews

Ross Lamb – “You don’t get so many opportunities to climb in Belgium”

It doesn’t seem like it but it was season 2017 when last we spoke to Ross Lamb, a David Rayner Fund man ‘doing good’ in The Flatlands. Flanders gets under a man’s skin so we were surprised to hear he was moving to La Belle France – that said, times are tough with teams folding everywhere from the UK to Columbia and all points in between. But that was our first question...
Interviews

Stuart Balfour – Dave Rayner Fund ‘Rider of the Year’

Stuart Balfour’s win in the supporting u23 race to the GP Ouest France Plouay, one of the most prestigious amateur in France, was special. The Dave Rayner Fund thought so too and made him their ‘Rider of the Year.’ As well as his Plouay success he won in Montpichon and at the Ronde Briochine; he was top 20 in the tough Kreiz Breizh UCI stage race and top 10 in the Tour de la Manche.
Interviews

Scott Auld – “if you are a good bike rider you can do well in Belgium”

When friends of VeloVeritas Dave and Vik – both devotees of Belgian palmarès websites tell me there’s a young British guy I should be speaking to then I take notice! Scott Auld is the man, with an ever-growing list of podium finishes in the Flatlands. We caught up with him recently...
Interviews

Stuart Balfour – Young Scot Victorious in the GP Plouay

Up there on the list of ‘cult’ races is the GP Plouay, now known as the Bretagne Classic Ouest France; not a race that’s high in the cycling public’s consciousness outside of Brittany but always hard fought on a tough parcours by a quality field since 1931. This year the winner was Belgian hard man Oliver Naesen (AG2R) who shrugged off the rain and took the laurels.
Interviews

Stuart Balfour – First French Win in Ronde Briochine

We spoke to Scotland’s Stuart Balfour at the start of the season but word has been trickling back that 21 years-old from Heriot who is a Rayner Fund rider with Cotes d'Armor-Marie Morin Veranda Rideau, ‘en France’ has been ‘doing the biz.’ Best have another word, we thought to ourselves... 
Interviews

Jacob Vaughan – Moving up to the Lotto-Soudal U23 team

Jacob Vaughan is arguably the most successful of the Rayner Clan, this year with his move to the Lotto-Soudal U23 team. A solid first year U23 in 2017 was capped with an excellent win in the Guido Reybrouck Classic. We caught up with him prior to his first big get together with the team.
Interviews

Stuart Balfour – “For 2018, I’m focused on trying to pull in some big results”

Time for VeloVeritas to catch up with Scottish, David Rayner funded rider, Stuart Balfour. It's been a year since last we spoke to Stuart so a wee bit to catch up on.
Interviews

Theo Hartley – Racing for Belgian team Illi Bikes, thanks to the Dave Rayner Fund

The David Rayner has been helping young riders realise their continental dreams since 1995 with David Millar one of the first to benefit, and Theo Hartley from Bolton in Lancs will be one of the grant recipients in 2018. He'll be joining the Belgian Illi Bikes squad, run by long term Six Day soigneur and track aficionado, Etienne Illegems and his son Ken who was for a time a mechanic with Team Sky but could get round a tough kermis on his good days.
Interviews

Henrietta Colborne – Looking forward to racing in the Spanish hills

It’s not just the boys which the Rayner Fund supports, the young ladies get their opportunities. Here’s what 19 year-old Miss Henrietta Colborne from the north of England had to tell us...
Interviews

Louis Modell – Living and Winning in France

A long time ago, Dave, Victor, Ivan and I raced in Brittany; when we saw this young gentleman had two wins on roads we remember from our youth we just had to have a word. Like many of our interviewees - they are helping almost 40 young riders this year - Louis Modell is a beneficiary of assistance from the fabulous Dave Rayner fund.
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Race Reviews

Super 6 2009 – Round 1, Gifford goes to Mike Nicolson

Endura Racing tried to sign him for the coming year - they saw the sure potential, but the loyal Mike Nicolson decided to stay with Dooleys RT and took another step today towards realising that promise. Attacking early on the first circuit of this 8 lap/65 mile "A" race around the East Lothian market town of Gifford with Paul Coates (now back with Squadra Via Mazzini - RaceTool Bicycles), and joined on the second lap by Collin Humphrey (Sports Cover), Nicolson drove the collaborating trio to a maximum lead of over 3 minutes with two laps to go, before sensing Coates was weakening and Humphrey was a danger. Deciding to go it alone, Nicolson finished in glorious solitude.
Garmin Physio Toby Watson

Talking About The Green

Talking About The Green. We're into the final couple of days prior to the big show starting, and I reckon it's time to throw my two cents into the prediction ring. I'll start with the green (or points) jersey-a jersey that two of the boys from Garmin have worn in the past two seasons, but which neither actually held. Wiggo and Millar both rode in the green jersey the day after the Prologue, yet neither was leading the points competition, which was lead by Fabian Cancellara, who happened to also be holding the yellow jersey, and so of course wore that on the day.
Race Reviews

Il Giro d’Italia 2014 – Stage 7; Frosinone – Foligno, 214 km. Desperate Nacer Bouhanni

'Desperate' is defined as; ‘having a great need or desire for something.’ It was Vik who used the word when describing Bouhanni’s win in Bari in that ‘semi-neutralised’ slippery Stage Four. Bouhanni had to change a wheel with 13 K to go and rain slick roads or not, the Frenchman and his domestiques rode like madmen to get him where he had to be. The man was desperate to win. He was the same today; F des J put the most savagery into the chasing down of the five escapees – for a long time I thought they’d stay clear. But F des J more than any other team wanted them back – and Bouhanni didn’t disappoint.
Garmin Physio Toby Watson

Ah, the First Time!

Ah, the First Time. Everyone remembers their first time. And after many years of flirtation and "everything but," last night was JV's. Garmin have finally managed to break their cherry to win a stage at the Tour. Now that the hoodoo has been cleared, I'm expecting multiple wins throughout the race, with Tyler Farrar being first cab off the rank tonight with the Stage 3 Bunch Sprint.
Interviews

James Oram – “busy enough not to miss home”

As the Giro battles raged from Scandinavia down to the Mediterranean, the next generation of Giro stars went about their business. Take 18 year-old Kiwi, James Oram – in 2011 he won the ‘junior Tour de France,’ the Tour de l’Abitibi in Canada. The likes of Steve Bauer, Laurent Jalabert, Bobby Julich and Andy Hampsten have all ridden in Abitibi so it’s a good indicator of potential.
Diaries

Paris – Roubaix 2007 – Day 2, Course Recce

Friday's gig was to do a course recce for Paris - Roubaix 2007. There are 28 sectors and you can't skek them all, so we decided to do the track at Roubaix, the final four sectors, a new sector which has just been added and the two legendary sectors - Carrefour de L'Arbre & Arenberg.

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