Rider Profile

Name: Fraser Martin

Primary Club: Perth United CC

Biography

I’ve always enjoyed riding my bike. I joined the Tay Titans back in 2009. My first experience of riding in a bunch was the Tour of Flanders Sportif with my Dad and a few friends where we climbed the Koppenburg, Bosberg and the Muur. The atmosphere of 20,000 people on bikes was enough to kick start my passion for cycling. Not only the riding itself but the Belgian people who wandered the streets, all with one thing in common. The following day we watched the Professionals ride the same route and the same climbs that I’d ridden the previous day. Seeing Nick Nuyens win inspired me to think; “if he can do it, so can I.”

So having loved my first encounter with bunches I entered into an Ingliston Criterium... I got absolutely hammered- by riders on this program - to say the least... After the crushing defeats I suffered in 2011, I trained over the 2011/12 winter for the Youth Tour of Scotland. After enduring my first season, I’ve been hooked on racing. I’ve travelled the length and breadth of Britain (well as far as the Midlands) and Ireland in search of racing. I often wonder what my life would be like without cycling, and then I think that I’d probably be a “slob” sitting on the couch watching repeats of Top Gear on Dave or have some sort of weird obsession with Xbox.

I’m now sitting my highers and have very little social life. With studying and training I have no time to ‘party’ like my friends, but, I wouldn’t change it. With the buzz of training and the atmosphere from the events that I attend, like track league, it’s as much of a competitive thing as a social thing. I thrive on competition. “I love elbowing people, in the spirit of competition... Of course...”

Career Highlights to date

Winning Scottish Junior Madison Champs as a Youth A with Zak Loney

Finishing second in the Skinny Tyres Series

Third in the Alpine Bikes/Ingliston SeriesFirst in the SWSCP Crit 1

First in the Alpine Bikes Crit Series 5

Who inspires you and why

Phillippe Gilbert – After only becoming fully interested in cycling in 2011, watching Phil Gil in the Ardennes Classics and watching him power on in the first day of the Tour de France to win Yellow has also had a massive impact on the way I want to ride. I often wish I was him.

Another punchy rider that inspires me is Peter Sagan – I mean, what’s not to love about a guy who plays charades as he wins stages in the Tour?