Danny Hart and Phoebe Gale were on form at the opening round of the SDA Series in Innerleithen, while a packed field in Balfron fought for the win at the Lake of Menteith APR.
SDA Season Opener
Innerleithen played host to the opening round of the Scottish Downhill Association series, with a very strong field heading to the Scottish Borders for a sold-out event.
Former World Champion Danny Hart was victorious in his first race of 2023, with the English rider riding the two fastest times of the day. His first run of 2:59.283 was only bettered by his second run of 2:58.908 and was enough to stay clear of the stacked field in the Men’s. William Brodie finished only sixth tenths of a second behind Hart and was the only other rider to break the three minute barrier over the weekend, with his 2:59.557. Adam Brayton came home in third place.
Phoebe Gale (Canyon Collective FMD) opened her senior career with a victory in the Women’s event. Her 3:30.801 was enough to win the Elite event by a distance, although in the Junior Women Aimi Kenyon (PInkbike) set the second quickest time by a woman with a 3.39.503, with fellow junior Heather Wilson third quickest.
You can watch the best bits of Saturday's Practice below:
Round 2 of the SDA Series takes place at The Fort on the 6th and 7th May and doubles up as a British Series round and a UCI Category 1 event.
Entries are still open here.
Lake of Menteith APR
A massive field of 129 riders took Balfron for the Glasgow Nightingales’ Lake of Menteith APR on Saturday morning.
An APR – Australian Pursuit Race – is a staggered start which sees riders seeded into groups and set off at set intervals, with the novice riders starting first and the more experienced riders starting at the end, with the hope that by the end riders from all groups would coalesce and fight it out for the victory.
The women’s race saw 49 entrants including many taking part in their first road race. The handicap system was spot on with riders from various different groups in the Top 10. Kim Baptista (Ayr Roads CC) claimed the victory from Iona Hamilton, with Emma McDonald (Wahoo-Le Col) in third.
In the men’s race, Finn Crockett riding now in the new colours of The Cycling Academy managed to catch and pass the riders from the five groups ahead of him to claim victory. Murray Souttar (Torvelo Racing) finished in second, with Craig Paterson (Spokes RT) in third.
A massive congratulations to Martin and the team at Glasgow Nightingales for putting on such a well-run event.
Scots Abroad
Oscar Onley (Team DSM) and Mark Stewart (Bolton Equities-Black Spoke) were in action at the 1.1 Volta Limburg in the Netherlands. The conditions looked particularly Scottish with the wet and windy weather having its effect. Onley unfortunately crashed out of the winning break before coming home in 16th place, while Stewart finished in 11th place.
Meanwhile, at the UCI Enduro World Series in Tasmania three Scots-based riders were in the top ten. Adoped Scot Bex Baraona (Fox Factory RT) won out over six stages, the Innerleithen-based rider won out overall with Ella Conolly (Cannondale Enduro) in third. Katy Winton (GT Continental) finished in ninth place Down Under.
