Last April, Mark Stewart was on the other side of the world claiming arguably the most prestigious title of his young career to date – points race gold on the track representing Scotland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Fast forward a year, and – after a year focusing purely on the boards – the 23-year-old is again to split his attention between track and road.
Of the title he won in Australia this time last year, the Scot said: “The Commonwealth Games was a massive target last year, so I didn’t want any external pressures from the road for that season. But this year, I’m very happy to try to step back to the road and have an impact on the British domestic scene.”
Stewart will attempt to do that as part of Ribble Pro Cycling, who will be among the teams on the start line for the opening round of this year’s HSBC UK | National Road Series – the East Cleveland Klondike on April 14.
It was announced in November that the 23-year-old would be joining up with Ribble, where he will be lining up alongside the likes of John Archibald and Dan Bigham, who will both also be looking to translate strong track form to the road.
“I wanted to get involved in a road team this year, and Ribble has a really good reputation of being a very down-to-earth team; very professional, but also managing themselves in a very relaxed manner, which I identify with quite heavily myself,” Stewart explains.
“The team feels like a family – it feels like we are all in this together and I believe that will help us to produce some great results this season.”
Stewart is reserved about his own personal goals this season, but believes that – beginning in East Cleveland this weekend – Ribble will be a force to be reckoned with in both the HSBC UK | National Road Series and HSBC UK | National Circuit Series.
“Having not raced on the road for a while, I’m not sure what a good performance for myself would be,” he admits. “Maybe a win, maybe a top ten in the national series races, but importantly, I’m really keen to be a team player and to help my team-mates perform.
“There aren’t any stand-out riders nor any riders stepping down from higher UCI levels, and I think that will be an advantage for us – we have many cards to play and nothing to lose!”
Ribble Pro Cycling announced their team for the East Cleveland Klondike below:
Sunday 14 April
— Ribble Pro Cycling (@TeamRibble) April 10, 2019
@EcKlondike
13 30
169KM
@jjzarchibald
@SAuldCycling
@DanBiggles22
@williambrown92
#AlexDalton
@zebkyffin
@GruffLewis
@alex_luhrs
@johnreeve1958 pic.twitter.com/J4TTNNSX7d
