A strong contingent of Scottish riders have made the long journey south this weekend for the 2021 HSBC UK National Cross Country Championships, which are taking place at Plymouth’s Newnham Park.
The major championship races take place on Sunday 25th July, and with the recent heat wave sweeping the country, the course is likely to be dusty and extremely fast, with riders having to mix physical strength with technical finesse.
Fresh from victory at the opening round of the National Series, and a stunning 11th place finish at the Les Gets World Cup at the start of the month, Isla Short will head south full of confidence, as she takes aim at the Senior Women’s title. Could the fact that her coach, Paul Newnham, shares his name with the race venue, be the lucky charm she needs?
Joining her is another in-form rider, Kerry MacPhee, who chased her fellow Aberfoyle resident hard at that National Series race in Cornwall, eventually rewarded with a fine runner-up finish.
In the Senior Men’s race it will be Scottish stalwart Grant Ferguson, second at the previous round of the National Series, who will be vying for a medal on the south coast. The 2016 Olympian and two-time Commonwealth Games representative will hope he can find his very best form when it counts and potentially take home another of those coveted stripey jumpers.
He will be joined by Rab Wardell, Mark Scott and Gary MacDonald, the latter of whom will also have one eye on another British Masters title the previous day.
In the U23 Women’s category both Anna Flynn and Anna McGorum will have aspirations of a podium finish in a small, but extremely strong field, whilst the younger of the McGorum sisters, Elena, will be targeting a result to remember in the Junior Women’s race.
Former World Junior champion Charlie Aldridge starts as favourite in the U23 Men’s event, where he’ll be joined by Rory McGuire, both men having being on exceptional form in the international races they have been able to contest so far in 2021.
The Junior Men’s race is wide open, but having won the opening round of the National Series six weeks ago, Corran Carrick-Anderson will certainly be one of the men to look out for on Sunday afternoon.
In the youth races, which take place the previous day, another of the Carrick-Anderson siblings, Emily, will hope to be at the sharp end of proceedings after a recent outing at the European Youth MTB Championships in Italy – she’ll be joined by Christina McGorum. In the boys equivalent there is a large travelling contingent, with Edinburgh’s Reuben Oakley one of the names to watch out for.
We’ll keep you up to date with all the action and results over the weekend via the Scottish Cycling social media channels, with a full report on Monday.
