After a three-year hiatus, the Youth Tour of Scotland will return for its ninth edition of this famous race, with 156 riders from six countries taking to the start line in Perthshire from 1-4 April.

Stages

Saturday will see a very short Prologue of 1.6km in the morning to see who will be the first to wear the yellow jersey in 2022.

The afternoon sees Stage 1 take place around Forteviot with nearly 100m of elevation gain each lap. The girls will race 5 laps of the 6.3km course – totalling 33km, while the Boys will race 9 laps – 63km. With the amount of elevation on offer, expect to see plenty of attacks. A good move by one or more individuals could set the General Classification for the weekend, but if riders attack too much then they could face fatigue come the final stages.

Sunday’s racing takes place in and around the village of St David’s, with the morning’s Stage 2 comprising of a Team Time Trial (TTT) over a flat, 6.9km course; this will be a key test as having a strong squad of four riders is crucial as the times are taken on the third rider across the line.

After a pause for riders to recover from their exertions, the afternoon’s Stage 3 will see the riders once again tackle laps of the same flat circuit (5 for Girls, 9 for Boys). While a bunch sprint may be the most likely outcome on paper – the Scottish weather has an ability to rip up the rulebook.

Monday’s Kermesse around the grounds of Strathallan School and Forgandenny is anything but a procession – with the large amounts of elevation gain each lap which equates to 300m for the Girls Race and 500m for the Boys race – riders can afford to throw caution to the wind on this final stage.

We caught up with Jake Speed, a member of Scottish Cycling’s Young People’s Panel who will be in action for the Scotland East and Central Team and he told us:

“I’m looking forward to Stage 1 at Forteviot, as the routes of the Youth Tour stages are what I use as my training ground, so I am well acquainted with the stages.

“I particularly like Stage 1 as it has lots of climbing, and I’ll be targeting KOM jersey on this stage. I have practiced the course and know the best lines to take, so I will use this to my advantage.

“Overall, I’m looking forward to YTOS as it’s a great place for me to gain experience in proper road stages - I can’t wait to try out new things and help my team throughout the three days. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I can’t wait to meet new people and learn new experiences.”

Fellow Young People’s Panel member, Molly Evans, is also relishing the chance to compete at the event, and she will ride for the Scotland North East squad.

“I am really looking forward to YTOS, and because of COVID it will be my first and last year racing it, so I am so excited to make it a good one.

“I am really looking forward to all of the stages but in particular the team trial, because that is something we don't get to do very often, and I am excited to race with my team and it is on a really good course.

“I am also excited for the final stage because I enjoy courses with a mixture of gradients, and I like that it goes through the campus. I’m just super excited to get racing now!”

Alfie George, the winner of the race in 2017, who now rides as a professional rider for Vendée-U told Scottish Cycling of the importance of the Youth Tour of Scotland on his development:

“I was very lucky to be able to ride the race three times as a youth, and it is undoubtedly Britain’s premier stage race, giving young riders the opportunity to race multiple days on proper roads over the challenging but beautiful terrain in Perthshire.

“It allows young riders to emulate the pros, learning how to work in teams and compete for the distinctive classification jerseys and gain experience moving into the junior ranks. Perhaps the most important part though is the enjoyment of the residential stay at Strathallan - living and racing with your mates makes it one of the best weekends of the year.”

How to Follow

You can keep up to date with all things YTOS by using the social media hashtag  #YTOS2022, and following us on twitter @YouthTourScot and on Facebook here.