ABOUT US
In the post war years up until the 1990's Scotland had a proud legacy of producing world class road racers competing in legendary events like the Peace Race, Tour de France, Giro D'Italia and the Vuelta Espana. By the early 2000's David Millar was the last standard bearer in men's World Tour racing while our women's progress actually accelerated as an exciting new generation took off.
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When we founded our team there were 27 male World Tour Pro's from the UK but the Scottish club system not produced anyome at that level for 28 years. With Sean Flynn from Edinburgh and Oscar Onley from Kelso both signing for DSM in 2023 the tide is turning.
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In 2023 our rider Finn Mason became the first ever Scottish winner of the British Junior Road Race Championship. In our third season it was a great moment.
The Cycling Academy is a team, program. movement and legacy of world class road racers . Its a long term project aimed at addressing all of the key skills and capabilities required for the modern generation of professional sport where riders are progressing faster than ever before. Our approach is innovative, collaborative and highly ambitious. Its all about creating a legacy for the next generation to look back on with pride.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
James McCallum
Director of Sport
James has over 20 years of experience in cycling, firstly as athlete including 4 Commonwealth Games, then as a professional road captain with teams like Endura Racing, Rapha JLT and NFTO. After retirement James became Director Sportif at OnePro Cycling & WNT. In 2018 James broke Mark Beaumont’s NC500 record in 29 hrs. James coaches' athletes from youth riders to world class pro’s and is the Athlete Representative on the Board of Scottish Cycling.
Brian Smith
Pathway Director
Brian was Scotland's last domestically developed World Tour Professional, British Champion and upon retirement held a series of senior roles in World Tour Teams. He is also the voice of British Eurosport sharing his deep insights as rider and DS with viewers since 2009. Brian directs the pathway for our riders from the junior ranks onwards, providing mentorship and access to professional road racing teams to achieve our goal of developing professional cyclists at the top level of the sport.
Peter Ellen
Managing Director
For 30 years Peter has been building high growth businesses in the UK, Europe, Asia and North America. These include Fopp and Maxymiser Inc., working with big brands like HSBC, AMEX, Tui, Hilton and AirAsia. He currently advises governments on technology deployment and assists companies with funding and venture building. He established the ERC Goodson Race Team, which has become one of UK’s most successful youth cycling teams with 6 British Championship Gold Medals.
Mark Young
Team Director
Mark is an ex domestic racer and coach with deep experience in rider development. Mark previously worked at Scottish Cycling on youth, junior, U23 , club development and women’s programmes.
He then worked with British Cycling in their youth talent programme. Mark is a Level 3 Road, TT and Track Coach.
Mark also ran electronic timing and did the full live and final results for many SCX, SXC, Road events plus British Cycling Series and international events.
Andy Mackie
Team Director
Andy represented Scotland at multiple disciplines, winning medals at national level and racing extensively in Belgian kermesses. In 2005 he combined his passion for cycling with a love of the Tuscan countryside. Starting with one day tours, he grew La Corsa Tours into an internationally acclaimed business, catering for 5000 riders per season. David Millar recently included LaCorsa in the top 10 cycling holidays on earth. Andy brings deep experience to the team and is a driving force behind its development.
Connor Mason
Mental Performance Coach
Connor gained his MSc in High Performance Psychology from University of Edinburgh having formerly worked for Nike Netherlands assisting athlete programs. Connor has developed The Cycling Academy's HPP Frameworks and acts as the athlete representative in the academy