Last week we announced that Angus Claxton had been selected to join the British Cycling Senior Academy, after two years on the Scottish Cycling Performance Programme; we wanted to catch up with him before he headed to Manchester for the next steps in his cycling career.

Angus joined the Scottish Cycling Performance Development programme in 2014, not long after the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

Since then he has worked incredibly hard with some fantastic results especially during late summer 2015; winning the Under 23 London Six Day in October, being part of the bronze medal winning Scotland Juniors Team Pursuit team at the British National Track Championships in September, as well as winning bronze in the individual pursuit at the British Junior Track Champs in August.

The 19 year old, who rides for Glasgow Cycle Team, also got the opportunity from Scottish Cycling to spend a period of the 2016 summer season in Spain riding for a local U23 team (Eiser Inforlurs Duranguesa) followed by a six week stint racing in Belgium with the SC Performance Programme.

So Angus, how did it feel when you found out you were selected for the British Cycling Senior Academy?

“Honestly, it still all feels a bit unreal. It’s been one of my main ambitions for so long now and to have finally achieved it is a real testament to the all of the people around me (and yourself surely Angus?), especially to my Mum and Dad who have supported me 110% through this whole journey!

I was invited to do a three week trial with the Senior Academy which involved ten days out in Italy and included two races. The period out in Italy was about giving me the opportunity to see what kind of races I might be doing if I was selected onto the academy and also show me how high the level is. It also gave the coaches a chance to see what my attitude was like on race day and also just an opportunity for them to get to know me off the bike as well.”

The Scottish Cycling Performance Programme is specifically designed to feed into the British Cycling Performance Pathway, therefore giving riders the best chance of selection – and a greater opportunity for Scots to ride professionally for the Great Britain Cycling Team.

“Without the Scottish performance programme I simply wouldn’t be on academy. It was Mark Mckay (Scottish Cycling National Endurance Coach) who introduced me to the idea of the British Cycling Senior Academy and since then he, and Scottish Cycling, have worked tirelessly to give me invaluable opportunities including racing abroad, training camps, and coaching and track time. For that I am incredibly thankful.

I started racing quite late compared to most others and at first it was just a case of enjoying it and having fun. It then started to become a bigger and bigger part of my life and before I knew it I was heading up and down the country seemingly every weekend racing. When I joined the Scottish Cycling Performance Programme we (Mark McKay and I) sat down and started talking about my future ambitions and goals; one of the big topics was academy selection.

At first I never really thought I would make it, as back then when I compared myself to guys stepping up to the academy and looked at their results, they just seemed in a league of their own. But I kept on working hard, and with that, doors started to open and I made sure that I took every available opportunity I possibly could.

I was then shortlisted for academy at the end of 2015 and ever since then really I knew that I had the right “stuff” but there were just a few key things which I needed to work on. I really focused on those this year; and it worked.”

So now you are on the British Cycling Senior Academy – what comes next?

“This next year is still about development for me, but I aim to be a strong part of the Senior Academy Team Pursuit squad and be more competitive out on the road. I'm just looking forward to getting the opportunity to race the bigger races and learning with the best.”