Kate Richardson dominated in Ireland last weekend with the 20-year-old winning the Individual General Classification, Points General Classification, Queen of the Hills Classification and Best Young Rider Classification in an astonishing performance over five days and six stages in County Kilkenny.
In the CTT Ladies’ National 100 Mile Championship Scottish based Jo Patterson stopped the clock with 3:36:41, shaving over five minutes from the record.
Continuing our series of interviews with Scots who have been selected for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games – but with track cycling events taking place on the Lee Valley ‘Pringle’ Velodrome in London - we talk with sprinter Lusia Steele.
Neah Evans is one of Scotland’s most successful ever cyclists with a raft of British, Commonwealth, European, Olympic and World championships medals on the track to her credit, she is reigning British Points and Individual Pursuit Champion.
Ellie Stone is reigning British 500 metre Time Trial and Keirin champion – but despite these successes she’ll not be riding either event at the Commonwealth Games in England - rather she'll be piloting a tandem in the para cycling events; the Kilometre Time Trial on Sunday July 31st and the Match Sprint on Friday 29th July.
Continuing our series of interviews with Scottish Cycling selections for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next month – but with the track events held in London on the Lee Valley ‘Pringle’ Olympic velodrome – we spoke to para tandem pilot, Jenny Holl.
With the release of the list of Scottish squad selections for the Commonwealth Games cycling events we thought it would be good to catch up with a few of the riders; some ‘old friends’ and some new names to us. Lauren Bell burst on to the GB track scene by winning the 500 metre Time Trial and Keirin at the 2020 British track championships, as well as taking Sprint bronze.
In the 80’s there weren’t many female soigneurs in the pro peloton, but along came the 7-Eleven and everything changed. Trudi Rebsamen was amongst the first, Ed spoke to her about cycling ‘in the day’ and her late partner Steve Tilford.
The Alba Development Road Team is aiming to help female talent realise their dreams of competing against the world’s top riders in the biggest races. Thanks to financial backing from several international organisations all athletes are being provided with a bike, individual development plan, riding kit and full race programme to help achieve optimum performance.
Has a Scottish based woman ever won the British 100 mile time trial title championship before? The answer is ‘yes,’ in 1998; Andrea Pogson riding for Midlothian Racing Team did that very thing and kindly consented to delve back into her memory banks and give us her recollections of a highly successful time trialling career.
When we spoke to Britain’s Joss Lowden back in July she told us about her intention of attacking the world hour record. She’d already exceeded Bussi’s 48.007 kilometres in a ‘test’ ride. She turned intent into action on the boards of the Grenchen Velodrome in Switzerland with 48.405 kilometres on 30th September, well in excess of her own ‘test’ ride distance and Bussi’s record.
We thought it would good to talk with the previous ‘Woman of the Hour,’ Ms. Bussi about her record of 48.007 kilometres set on September 13th 2018 at high altitude on the boards of the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico.
Congratulations are in order as Christina Mackenzie became the fastest-ever woman to traverse the largest of the British Isles from it’s south western to north eastern tips. Christina, originally from the Isle of Lewis but now Stirling-based took time to speak to VeloVeritas a day or two after her epic ride.
Just turned 19 years-old, Louise Garbett finished the biggest race in the world on the Champs-Élysées in Paris and was escorted to the podium along with Laurent Fignon and Greg Lemond to receive the overall White Jersey for the first ever Tour de France Feminine.
British rider Joss Lowden who rides for Drops Le Col, on the sea level Derby track in England rode 48.160km in 60 minutes - 153m further than the current distance - in an ‘unofficial’ one hour ride and will be going for the official UCI record in Switzerland later this year.
Jo Patterson – who has just won the CTT 100 Mile TT with a stunning 3:42 ride in Wales, riding for The Independent Pedaler-Nopinz - has represented Ireland internationally and was born in England but she lives in Scotland and works in Wishae – that’s ‘Wishaw’ to non-natives… ‘good enough for us,’ we thought to ourselves.
If you know your cyclocross then you’ll know this lady; 15 times US Elite Champion and five times on a Worlds podium: Katie Compton. But her career is drawing to a conclusion and we thought we couldn’t let a book like hers close without mention.
‘Glass ceilings;’ they’re there to be broken through. England’s Cherie Pridham becomes the first female sport director in the World Tour; she’ll be with Israel Start-Up Nation for season 2021.
Mara Abbott is twice a winner of the overall GC in the Giro Rosa, picking up seven stages along the way not to mention two second places, a fourth, a fifth and 10th on GC. Abbott retired from the sport after finishing fourth in the Olympic Road Race in Rio, 2016. She took time to speak to us not long after her retirement; here’s what she had to say.
It was this time last year when we last spoke to Ross Lamb; he told us he was going to be enjoying a change of scenery in 2019, to the Toulouse suburbs to race with GSC Blagnac–Velo Sport 31. Nice, we thought – but as oor Rabbie said; 'the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley'. In modern parlance; ‘s##t happens!’
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.
I've been riding a few criterium and nocturne races lately; in this Blog update there's fireworks, some good results, a trip to watch the Tour, and more ripped bib shorts…
Saturday dawns crisp, cold and sunny for the Omloop Gent Gent. We have a copy of Het Nieusblaad which has all the information we need about the route so its time to head for the start. It's moved this year to the S.M.A.K complex, site of the Gent Six Day. As the car park fills with the now de rigueur coaches, ushered in by whistle blowing attendants we grab a quick pic of world champ Peter Sagan's Specialized before being asked to move on by an unfriendly team staffer...
Them sprinters are big guys-I passed them in the tunnel tonight, they looked cool, cocky, stylish. The public here love the sprinters; at intro time, they actually get their big build up from Daniel Mangeas after the Six Day riders. Bauge did a standstill for more than half-an-hour, in Gent there would be bricks getting lobbed at him, but in Grenoble-they love it.
Allergic to Stairs. I can remember watching the Tour in the years before being a part of the race. I was always completely gutted that just when things got interesting and they’d had a few mountain stages, there would be a rest day.