Monday 3 June 2013

BCXC Series - A Scottish Perspective

Well done to all the Scottish racers who headed down to Hopton Woods in Shropshire for the third round of the British XC Series. 

The course was extremely tough with 264m of climbing each lap of the 6.5km course, all completed in hot sunshine! 

There were some great Scottish results with riders doing Scotland proud at all levels of racing. 

First up, on the Saturday in the Open category, Graeme Short (father of Isla!) picked up a fantastic 3rd place. Starting from the back of the pack, Graeme calmly picked his way through the field. Steve Brown from Ben Wyvis CC (SXC team scores extraordinare) took 19th in his first ever National race. Andrew Melton (Team Bicycles) also finished strongly. 

9.30am on the Saturday was the turn of the women and young lads. The Allen sisters, riding for SXC series sponsors, Thomsons Cycles finished strongly, with Katie and Erika taking 5th place in Juvenile and Youth respectively. 20seconds ahead of Erika in the Youth category was Team Bicycles  rider Elena Melton in 4th place. In the Youth boys category, the Scottish riders dominated the field with an entirely Scottish podium! Calum MgGowan (Peebles CC) took the victory from Mark McGuire (Team Bicycle) and another of the Thomsons riders, Harry Johnstone. Also in the youth male category, Pearce Somerville (Rockhard) took 18th ahead of McGuire's teammate Lewis Champion in 19th. 
In the Master female category, Gillian Pratt continued her winning streak, storming home to 1st place riding for Leslie Bike Shop. Fiona Paton, ben Wyvis CC, came in 5th in the Grand Vet category faced with some stiff competition. Isla Short (WXC World Racing) had an extremely impressive race for 2nd Junior woman, leading the field up the first big climb. 
In the Elite women's field, the series standings leader prior to the race Lee Craigie was unfortunately unable to race with illness. Honorary Scot, Jessie Roberts finished an extremely impressive 5th in a tough field, and Morven Brown (Dales Cycles) finished 18th. 

In the lunch time Elite race, Grant Ferguson (superior brentjens) romped home to take an impressive victory, with team mate Kenta Gallagher in 6th place. Gareth Montgomery of GT Muc Off racing team was 8th and his team mate Dave Henderson finished a strong 19th. First year Elite, Tom Evans (Ben Wyvis CC) got 25th in a large field of racers. 
First year Expert Finlay Strivens (Cairngorm CC) looked strong, finishing well in 25th place. 
Another Ben Wyvis rider, Iain Paton had a fantastic ride in the Junior category to take the victory. 

Later on in the afternoon, the Veteran males had three Scottish riders - Gary McCrae (Leslie Bikeshop) started strong, sitting 6th after lap 1, but a puncture left him top 20. Fellow Leslie rider, Alex Slaven was 25th and Ronnie Barker (Rockhard MBC) was 43rd. 

Really proud of all these riders, fantastic results in the strong and large British entry fields. 

Hope to see you all doing as well at Drumlanrig SXC this weekend :)

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