Andy Bruce and teammate Greig Brown make it a one-two in Balfron and claim both titles in the veteran Men’s RR, hosted by Glasgow Ivy CC in their Centenary year!
It was an impressive display of race craft by the whole Vanelli team to have men in the lead group and others policing both the chase group and the bunch.
Straight from the start attacks came thick and fast, Andy Bruce (Vanelli Project Go) getting up the road with David Finlayson (RT23) and establishing a break just after the race had passed through Buchlyvie. Bruce’s teammate, Rob Friel, soloed off the front to get across. Then it was the turn of Callum Sharp (Veloclub Edinburgh) to get across, taking Greig Brown (Vanelli Project Go) with him in the process.
By the time the race had come round to the Flanders Flats on the other side of the circuit the die was cast and we had four riders in front, Finlayson having dropped back to the bunch, possibly with gear trouble. Defending champion David Lines (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) was chasing with Mark Walker (Deeside Thistle CC) and they had Graham Smith (Vanelli Project Go along as the policeman for his teammates up ahead.
This is how the race stayed for the next lap, the lead group gradually taking more time. On some of the longer straights, the chasers could be seen by the bunch and a few riders took the opportunity to try and get away but Jason Roberts and Stephen Wilkinson (Vanelli Project Go) were alert to the moves and made sure nothing worked.
A man with good legs today was James McCallum (META Bike Division) but his saddle came loose and by the time he’d got it fixed there was no way to change the outcome of the race.
On the run-in Andy Bruce was the only V50 rider so Callum Sharp was watching Greig Brown and Rob Friel and on one of the rotations Bruce just floated off the front. Brown wasn’t going to chase and Sharp wasn’t about to drag two teammates back to the leader.
The situation had reached the ears of the waiting spectators and there was a lot of chat about the Ian Stannard victory at Omloop het Neuwsblad where he outfoxed three Quickstep riders, Boonen among them.
Sadly, for Sharp that situation wouldn’t repeat itself today as Bruce hove into view coming up the hill to the finish and had more than enough time to celebrate winning in Balfron, a place he’s won on more than one occasion. V50 Championship sorted, it was time for the sprint to be the V40 king.
Rob Friel was tailed off in the run-in and it was down to Brown and Sharp. There’s a final little rise just before the line and Sharp was ahead but Brown was inching him back. Both had faces which showed the strain of the sprint and it was Brown who crossed the line just a matter of centimetres ahead. It was a fantastic sprint and could have gone either way, both riders happy for each other in the end.
Rob Friel crossed the line just behind to round out the V40 podium and then it was the turn of the three chasers to finish. Mark Walker led them home with Graham Smith next and David Lines behind him. It was a bonus for Smith as he picked up the silver medal in the V50 category.
The bunch then followed, led in by James McCallum who was left to rue his saddle issue from earlier but was equally happy when he heard that Greig Brown was the new V40 Champion. Just behind McCallum was Robert Lindsay (Deeside Thistle CC) and this rounded out the V50 podium. David Gibson is a very well known name in Scottish racing and he claimed the V60 category.
A massive thank you to the all the volunteers and officials, and to organisers Glasgow Ivy Cycling Club, and we wish the pink panthers well in the remainder of their centenary year.
