Results suggest the boys' hard work over winter is bearing fruit, with podiums every weekend of March and lots of strong individual performances.
Noah Bleteau got the season underway at L'Enfer du Linlithgow stage race with the second year U19 beating a bunch of seniors to a 3rd step on General Classification. The race was held on home cobbles at the West Lothian Cycle Circuit, a new facility which is already proving a huge asset for developing riders.
For the first road race of the season the U19s hit the 10th Junior CICLE Classic in Melton Mowbray. It's a race famed for it's savage off-road sectors which, after the wettest February on record, were coated in mud and in submerged in water in places. Milo Mackintosh got into an attack the second time up the Sommerberg and when reeled in, he went again. He remained solo off the front of the leaders’ group with 5km to the finish and was just pipped on the line by Ahron Dick, a TCA team mate last year. A great result for the first British Cycling Junior Road Race Series.
Over on the Isle of Man Callum Salisbury lined up against the greatest sprinter of all time, Mark Cavendish for the Nick Corkhill memorial Road Race. Callum eventually got away in a two man break with former Team Sky rider Chris Lawless, building an uncatchable gap and taking silver in a two-up contest.
Back in Scotland comeback kid Callum Speedy Reid marked a return from 5 years of respiratory issues to take second at the Lake of Menteith RR. Speedy dominated youth racing in Scotland as a youngster and has been fighting back whilst helping our team on DS duties, so it was special to have him back on the podium just before his 21st birthday. Alastair Easton proved a valuable side kick in the race and took first junior and a 8th overall.
Meanwhile in sometimes arctic conditions Ruan Vorster finished first junior on GC at The Peaks 2 Day race up above Buxton and Holme. Saturday's stage 1 set the tone for the weekend with 45mph cross winds and full on blizzards for 2000m of climbing over 96km. Two more stages followed on Sunday in an attritional race.
Finn McHenry secured 6th at The Gifford Road race and polished off the month with a top 20 on GC at Ras Mumhan in Kerry.
Four podiums and lots of quality rides made March a strong start to 2024 for the team, backed up by our program of training, coaching and education. We are proud to be developing a strong standard of athletes throughout the academy. The rest of our 2024 calendar includes races in northern and alpine France, Spain, Denmark and Flanders in UCI Junior and Senior competitions.
A big thanks to our partners Pedal Power, Ekoi, OTE, LeCol, Spatzwear and Arnold Clark for their equipment and nutrition support. A big thanks to our volunteers for the driving, fixing, cooking, roadside shouting and shivering.
If you love bike racing and would like to support us to develop a new generation in the world’s toughest sport, please email peter@thecyclingacademy.com
Power on!