NPS Round 2 Cornwall

My latest race was the second round of the national series which was taking place in Redruth, Cornwall. It was a big drive to get down there but we found the course and had a quick look around to see it was mostly in an old quarry with lots of little technical features and short climbs. We did some course practice on the Saturday and then headed to the hotel for a good night’s sleep before race day.
There was no international competition for this round so I had a gridding of 5th and that allowed me to start on the front row which is nice. The race began fast with a bit of a battle to get into the first descent before it settled down and a group of four of us formed at the front. It was a windy day and with it being 7 laps of a short hard course I decided to be careful not to use too much energy early on in the race. Four turned into three after about halfway through the race which was me, Kenta Gallagher and Hamish Batchalor. It stayed like this until just over a lap to go where I decided that I needed to have a go early before it came down to a sprint, I managed to open up a small advantage on an small climb on the run into the finish and from there I was able to build up a small lead into the final lap. I went hard through the whole of the last lap but also careful not to make any mistakes which might cost me and I managed to hold it to the line and take the win. It was my first mountain bike win in the Elite category so I was very pleased. Next up for me was a training camp with Oli Beckingsale which was very good and enjoyable camp before I head of to the first rounds of the World Cup next week.
Thanks for reading
Grant

NPS Round 1 Sherwood

I started my season at the first round of the national mountain bike series in Sherwood pines, Nottinghamshire. I have raced there lots before so I knew what the track would be like with its fast and twisty single track but that was not to be the case this year with lots of cold weather and snow forecast for the weekend. So after an eventful day of travelling to get to the race I found it under 6 inch of snow which meant it was going to be an interesting race weekend. It was going to be my first race in snow and with temperatures around 0 degrees it wasn’t what I was expecting for the end of march but considering the weather I have trained in at home in the past I was well up for it. I figured that the amount of time I had spent riding in snow and telling myself that one day it might snow in a bike race and all the big boys who had been living the dream in the sun all winter wouldn’t know what to do, this was a good time to test my theory. So I did a couple of laps the day before the race then went and found some big jackets and kept warm until race day.

I headed to the race in the morning to sort my bike and get a warm up in before my race started at midday. It was a Uci cat 1 race which meant there was quite a big field with some international guys who had come across as there was good points available. I was gridded on the second row and ready to go. The race started straight into a snowy field with people everywhere trying to move up and get good position for the first single track. I started well around 8th place then slowly moved up through the first lap to come round in the front group of 5. It split up over the next couple of laps and I managed to ride across to the front of the race and ride at the front with a Matthias Wengelin who was a Swedish cyclist. I stayed here until the last lap where we were joined by Paul Oldham from hope and it all kicked off. Paul attacked straight away with me and Matthias chasing before he went over the top and on to win the race and me an Paul raced it out for second place with Paul being stronger and taking 2nd and me rolling in to finish in 3rd place which I was pleased about as it was my first podium in an Elite race. Next up I have the second round of the national series in Cornwall later in April.
Thanks for reading Grant.

Winter Adventures

It has been a busy winter with lots of training, some cyclo-cross racing and some cold weather. I am now into my second year as an Elite and have lots of big races planned for the up and coming season which will be very exciting. I have joined a new team for 2013; Superior-Brentjens Mountain Bike Racing Team which is an Elite level world cup team managed by ex Olympic gold medallist Bart Brentjens and should be great fun with plenty of new experiences and things to learn. The new team means I have some great new kit such as a 29er mountain bike from Superior bikes and brilliant new clothing from Endura which has been keeping me warm and dry during the winter.
 I started my training last November with some general road training and some gym work which went well. I then did three cyclo-cross races towards the end of December; the first two were national trophy rounds at Shrewsbury and Derby and the final one was the national championships at Bradford early in January. I was hoping the races would go well as I had a much better gridding this year compared to last year which I was looking forward to. The first national trophy round I did at Shrewsbury went well with a front row gridding I was able to make the front group and race hard in the muddy conditions to finish in 4th place behind the winner from Belgium. I then went on to the next round in Derby where I got another good start and finished in 8th which set me up great for the national championships a week later Bradford.

The national cross champs were being held on the Sunday so we headed there the day before to get some laps in and have a look at the course, it muddy loop with some steep banks and hurdles to run up which would make a great course. The under 23 men’s race was a separate race from the Elite men's which would provide some close racing with the race starting early in the morning in cold conditions. I was excited to race and a little nervous before the start as I was hoping to improve on my 3rd place from the year before. I was gridded on the front row for the start. The race started fast as everyone was trying to move up and get to the front; I kept my position during the first couple of lap and was in the front group that formed of about 6 people. The pace was hard early on with people trying to get away and split the race up but I followed the moves and kept a good position. About halfway through it began to split up with me and Ben Sumner getting away for half a lap before getting joined by Steve James with a couple of laps to go. The last lap approached and I felt good so I went for it with just under a lap to go and got a small gap straight away which I held trying not to make any small mistakes, soon the gap opened and I was able to ride my own race and cross the line to take the win and become national champ which I was very happy about. Steve went on to finish in 2nd place with Ben Sumner coming in 3rd place.

Since then I have had a couple of training camps, one with Oli Beckingsale and the other with the new team in South Africa, both were great fun and allowed for some quality training for the new season. I start my mountain bike season in a couple of weeks with the first round of the national series at Sherwood pines followed by some international racing.

Keep up to date with my new team through there website: http://www.mountainbikeracingteam.com/

Thanks for reading, Grant

Under 23 Mountain Bike World Championships

Well I have recently got back from the mountain bike world championships that were being held in Saalfelden, Austria. It was my final big race of the year so I was looking forward to it. We travelled to the race the week before and got plenty of time to practice the course. The course consisted of a main climb into a section of woods with loads of off camber sections and exposed roots before dropping down a fast decent into another shorter but steeper climb and finally dropping off a rock and some rock gardens to arrive back at the finish. Other than that the week running into the race was spent doing short rides and resting, mainly watching films and chilling. Race day was a Friday and it was sunny with an afternoon start which meant that it was going to be a hot race and I knew it was going to be a hard race as everyone is on top of their game at worlds. I lined up on the start gridded 84^th which wasn’t the best place to be as it was about 10^th row back and I knew the first couple of laps were going to be hard work trying to overtake.

Soon enough they had counted down and I was ready to go, from the start it was flat out straight into a tarmac climb where I was on the limit trying to get past as many people as possible and managed to get myself into the top 40. The problem with being this far back is as soon as the trail gets tight you have to stand and wait while everyone fits through which means you are losing time on the front of the race. Anyway once I got through I started to move up and was feeling good as I came round the first lap just outside the top 30 but then I started to pay for my earlier efforts and over the next two laps I found myself making mistakes drifting back through the race and struggling to get in a rhythm which wasn’t good. Luckily I managed to settle down mid race and started to come back with my last three lap times all inside the top 20 of the race which brought me up to 32^nd place and that is where I finished. I was hoping to do better but It was my first attempt at the under 23 category and a hard race so I have lots to learn for the future.

So that was my final race of the year of which it has been a busy one starting back in November with the cross season followed by early mountain bike season then a three month road block and finally finishing off back on my mountain bike. There’s been a lot of learning along the way and I’d like to say a massive thanks to everyone that’s helped me out this year especially my coach Phil and the team at BC, family and friends, Boardman Bikes, Braveheart Fund, Mavic and everyone else I have forgot to mention, it is much appreciated! Next up I have some time off followed by the start of cross season in November.

Thanks for reading, Grant.

Evening in Austria

BMC Swiss Cup Basel

I have had 2 big mountain bike races in the past month of my season and the first one was the final round of the BMC Swiss cup in Basel on the 26^th August. I wasn’t sure how the race was going to go as I had previously just finished a three month block on the road and I was unsure how I would fair on my mountain bike again. We headed to the venue the day before to get some practice laps of the course in,  it was a wide start loop with plenty of overtaking available followed by some flat transitions and one main climb and decent with a whole lap taking about 12 minutes it was going to be a fast 8 lap race. There were some big names in the race with 2^nd (Nino Schurter) and 3^rd (Marco Fontana) at Olympic Games there as well as multiple ex-world champions which would make for a cool race! I lined up for the race gridded last but I was hopeful in this race that there would be time to overtake in the start loop and put myself in the race.

Custom number board from mechanics haha.

 I started well and managed to move up and put myself as near to the front as possible and found after the first lap that I was sitting second group with Julien Absalon and Fabien Giger with a front group of 5 slipping away. This was a pretty cool place to be as Absalon is a 2x Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champ so I was rather happy to spend a bit of time on his back wheel and see what I could learn, I was also feeling quite good on my bike. I stayed here until half way through the race when there was an attack from Absalon on the main climb and I couldn’t go so I dropped into no man’s land for a bit until I was caught by the next group of 6 people and I managed to get comfortable in this group. The pace was fast but I was feeling good so I kept towards the front of the group and worked hard through the next couple of laps before we reached the final lap and it all kicked off again on the main climb. I still felt okay and was able to follow the moves and then the finish came to a sprint between six of us for 8^th place and I rolled in 12^th spot which also meant I took 1^st place in Under 23 so it was a good day on my bike. Next up was my final race of the year which was the world championships, being held in Austria.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/swiss-cup-2012-5/results

Thanks Grant

British MTB Championships

Last weekend was a busy one with a couple of races on and it started on Friday night when I headed to a round of the national circuit series in Beverly, Yorkshire. I had raced a couple of rounds of the series so I knew that it would be a hard race and that it would be flat out from the start so I got a good warm up and did some laps of the course which was in the town centre with some cobbles and wet corners. I lined up as near to the front as possible to get the best start which would make it easier earlier in the race and it started well keeping myself towards the front for the first three laps. Then on one of the wet right hander’s I slid out and subsequently rolled around on the floor which wasn’t great but I got up and decided to take a lap out before getting back in the race and getting involved before I put my chain into my spokes as I had bent my rear mech in the crash, so I fixed that and got going again when I decided to swap bikes and as I stopped I was told I couldn’t have more than one lap out which I should have known but since I’ve never had a lap out before in my life I wasn’t quite on it with the rules and found myself out of the race. Lesson learned, end of my night. Then the next day, Saturday morning I headed to British Mountain bike Championships down near London at Wasing Park. They have held a national series race here before so I knew before that the course was flat and most likely fast and that exactly how it was after I did three practice laps on Saturday afternoon. This was the first time I had been on my MTB for the past couple of months as I have been racing a block of road racing and it was great fun good to be blasting through the trails again.  After this I headed back to the hotel got some food then some sleep before race day on Sunday. I got a good warm up in on what turned out to be a hot day which was a nice surprise considering the amount of rain that has been around recently, after the warm up I got to the start and was gridded fifth so I chose the right hand side of the start. The start was flat out and I settled in second wheel for the first part before taking over the front for half a lap where I managed to open up a gap on everyone but team mate Kenta and he then took on the front and I hung on until the end of the first lap before he started to open up a gap on me. I chased for most of the second lap but paid the price for a fast first lap and got caught by second place and then was soon after caught by third place and found myself back down in fourth place. I then spent the next couple of laps in fourth place not riding well at all and seemingly hitting all the roots and holes I could find on the course. Going into the last lap I was still in fourth place but I was on the wheel of third place and I waited till a small climb in the course before putting in an attack to get away which worked and I found myself feeling better than I had earlier in the race so I continued to press on the pedals and began to bring back second place. By about half way through the last lap I had caught second place and it now looked like it was going to be a sprint for second, I knew I couldn’t let it come to a sprint as my sprint isn’t a strong point so I put the power down with about two km to go and opened up a 2/3 second gap which I held all the way to the line to finish in second place 45 seconds behind a fast Kenta Gee and making it a 1-2 for Boardman Team, a good day out.
Cheers for reading.Grant

British Road Race Championships

Last weekend saw the national road race championships taking place in north Yorkshire at Ampleforth. This was my first senior National Championships and I knew it would be a hard race with all the top domestic teams racing as well as Team Sky. The course was hard with three laps of a 20mile loop followed by six laps of a 10mile circuit to total 115 miles of rolling roads and challenging climbs. I lined up for the start with fellow Academy cyclists ready for a long day on the bike. The pace was hard straight away with people attacking everywhere to try and get in the early break, I tried to keep myself near the front out of trouble as the roads were narrow and rough which would make it easy for the race to split to pieces. Then after a couple of laps of the big circuit Endura Racing got on the front and the pace went up greatly as they began to bring back the break so I kept good position to avoid splits on the climbs and the damage behind. Then as we came into the smaller circuits for six laps there was a main climb which was causing a lot of damage and the group gradually got smaller. There was still a break of three away with over 5min including two Sky riders so our group was turning into a race for the under 23 race which was still available. I kept myself involved all the way until the second last time up this climb where the group was about 25 and it split into three group as the attacks started coming thick and fast, I found myself on the back foot here and was unable to follow and get involved so ended up in the third group of 5 until I got to 10miles to go and I had nothing left so it was a lonely ride to the finish for me but happy to have made it crossing the line in 31^st place after a long hard 5hour race. More races coming up over the next couple of weeks will try keep you posted.

Cheers for reading. Grant

 

Nove Mesto/La Bresse World Cups.

It has been a busy couple of weeks with plenty of different races going on. First of I had the third round of the World Cup series in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. It was a good course with lots of short hard climbs and rooty technical sections. The race here did not go well for me, I had a good start and came round the start loop in the top 10 but then unfortunatly went backwards through the race, I couldn't really explain what was up with my performance because I went into the race fit and healthy but I just couldnt respond during the race when people came past me and ended up finishing well down in 65th.

A week later I headed to La Bresse in France for the forth round of the World Cup series. The course here was a different ball game with one major climb to the top of a hill followed by a fast old school decent back to the bottem. I started a bit slower this time and came through safely after the start loop in 28th then tried to work my way through the field, by the 4th lap I had got to 18th but then drifted back in the last lap and finished in 25th which I was quite pleased with after the previous result the week before.

photo thanks to Rockyroads.net

Thanks Grant

UCI World Cup round 2 Houffalize, Belgium

My latest race was last weekend for Round 2 of the UCI World Cup in Houffalize, Belgium. We headed out there early and got some course practice in, the course was new compared to recent years and it had lots of new technical features which livened it up, as well as that there was the usual short hard climbs and false flats . Due to my bad luck at the first round in South Africa I had no UCI points and therefore got a gridding of 96th which meant that I would be on the 12th row at the start so I was expecting some first lap carnage. I warmed up for the race then went to the pens before lining up for the race. The race started well and went straight into a long steep climb which quickly bottlenecked and I spent my time running and trying to overtake, I moved up not to bad and after the start loop I had got to about 50th.  Once I settled down in the race I started to move up well which was easier early on in the race because there was big groups of people but got harder as the race split up. I felt quite good thoughout and found myself in top 30 at about half way through the race, then I kept pressing on to move up on the last two laps and eventually crossed the line in 20th place after 5 laps of the course. I was pleased with this result as my main aim was to try and finish in the top 25 which gives you UCI points so that at the next round I would have a better gridding which will be very helpful. :)

Alfons Benz

So it was a good world cup for me and now my next race is round two of the national series this weekend at Dalby forest.
Thanks for Reading
Grant

UCI World Cup round 1 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Well the first races of the year finally arrived and we were heading off to Pietermaritzburg, South Africa for the first round of the MTB World Cup. It was an exciting time as I have never been to Africa before and we headed out there on the Wednesday 10days before the World Cup, it was a long couple of days of travel with three flights but we got there midday on Thursday. Once we arrived we had an easy spin before getting on the course Friday. We had a race on Saturday which was part of the Momentum Health Series a South African National round and it was on the same course as the World Cup would be in a week so there were about 80 top elites racing, It was a hard race and I eventually crossed the line in 37^th after 2 hours of racing but it was good preparation for the World Cup in a week’s time. The course was quality with lots of technical features, dusty trails and a fair bit of climbing.

The next week was spent doing some easier rides and plenty of course practice so we were ready for the race on Saturday morning. I lined up for the World Cup on the Saturday with the second last gridding because I had no UCI points so it was going to be a hard race from the back. It was a hot day about 30 degrees and we had 5 laps of the course. I was a bit nervous before the start because it was my first Under 23 World cup after moving up from juniors last year but also fairly excited to get racing after lots of training in the winter. We soon started and the first half lap was a big fight for me  to get past people and try and move up the race with a lot of running and some sly overtaking manoeuvres, but I soon settled down and started getting past people and found myself in the top 10 after lap 1. I then got into a bit of a rhythm and was feeling rather good on my bike and stayed inside the top 10 for the next for next couple of laps with the leading group not too far ahead. Going into the final lap I was in 9^th place in a race with a Belgium for 8^th place, I was feeling good and it was going to be a close finish with us still together with less than half a lap to go. Then some bad news, my race turned for the worst with a puncture that I somehow got on the final climb. I first thought that it could be okay as there was a good gap of about a minute to the next person behind me but it was all downhill to the finish and people soon started to go catch and go past. I started to run with my main aim to try and get some UCI points which you get if you finish inside the top 25 but I eventually crossed the line in 27^th. So it turned into a bad day on the bike even if my legs felt good. Unfortunately looks like I am going to be starting on the back of the grid for a bit longer until I manage to get myself some points.

My Next race is the first round of the national series this weekend at Sherwood Pines.

Thanks for reading

Grant

Support

Very happy that I am continuing to get supported by Boardman Bikes this year and looking forward to a great year on there bikes. http://www.boardmanbikes.com/boardman/boardman_sponsorship_mtb.html

2012 Boardman EM 1.7 Elite Race Bike

Happy to say that I have got support from Mavic this year and that they have provided me with Shoes which will be a great help this year and it is much appreciated.

New Mavic Shoes for 2012 (photo thanks to my sister)

Also thanks to everybody else for there continued support this year, much appreciated!

Training Camps

Hello,
It is a busy time just now, I am currently on a training camp in Majorca where we are doing a lot of training on the road. It has consisted of many hours on the bike but today we got an easier day so here is a photo from the cafe we stopped at. The sun is out! :)

Cheers

Grant

Cyclo-Cross Season 2011/2012

Hello, it has been a while since my last post and I have been busy. Since then I started to race some Cyclo-cross with the first race I headed to being the national trophy series round at Southampton back in November, I was unsure of my form going into the race as I had not done any racing for a couple of months. The race didn’t go the best as I had a crash first lap and as soon as I was off the pace I was chasing to try and get involved in the race but didn’t quite have the legs and finished 33^rd, I then went on to race the next national trophy round at Derby hoping to improve but I finished in 33^rd again and then the next race after that was the Bradford round where I finished in 27^th. So it wasn’t the best of cross seasons up until then for me which could have been down to many things. On the plus side training during that time went well and I spent a lot of time getting stronger ready for the 2012 season and adjusting to my recent move to Manchester which was a change to my lifestyle but has been going well. Any way after that I travelled home for Christmas which allowed me to get some rest from training and do some more race efforts to get ready for the national cross champs which were the first week in January. I did the Christmas cross race at Calendar which went really well; it was a good course and top notch event so thanks to the organisers. So with some other turbo sessions I started to find some form on the cross bike.

Next up was the national cross champs on the 8^th of January which I was looking forward to, we travelled to the race on the Saturday before and got some course practice in before heading to bed early for the race the next day. I warmed up well in the morning and lined up second row at the start ready to go. I had an okay start and was about 6^th wheel but then unfortuantly lost some places due to crash in front of me so I settled down after that and started to chase back the front group. I made it across to the front group of 5 by the end of the first lap so I was in the right place and stayed there for a couple of laps. This group soon slimed down into three of us and it was an okay pace but I lost contact with the front two riders when the attacks started to come. The race was still very close with the two people just 10 seconds ahead of me and another boy that had joined me. It was now getting onto the last lap and I was in the race for bronze medal with the defending champ which turned into a very close sprint which I managed to get so was very pleased with a bronze at under 23 nationals and only 17 seconds down on the winner. J So after that race I then headed to the final national trophy round at Shrewsbury a week later which went well, Because I had got some points at nationals I found myself front row and this meant I could get a much better start and was involved in the race from the gun, I finished the race in 6^th place senior, 1^st Under 23. So that is a quick write up of my full cross season this year unfortunately due to my early season results I wasn’t really able for selection for Cyclo-cross worlds but hopefully one day I will get to do that race.

Since then I have put the cross bike away and have mainly been clocking up miles on the road bike and continued to spend time in the gym. Recently I headed out to Majorca for a weeks training camp with the road academy lads which went well and consisted of lots of hours on the bike. Next up I have a couple more training camps before starting my race season.

Cheers for reading will keep you posted.

Grant.

Academy Selection + Training

Hi All,

It has been a while since my last post but I haven’t been too busy on the racing side of life but I did get some great news after my successful year of racing, I got selected to join British Cycling’s Academy Programme for mountain bike which is full time, living in Manchester. I moved down here almost a month ago and have settled in well, the programme provides regular support and coaching from the British Cycling staff down here which is great for my progression on the bike.

After my long season I had a month of the bike completely to get some rest and chill out before I started some easy training rides and moved down here to Manchester where my training amount has gone up a lot. Training is varied just now with some gym work, road rides, MTB rides and now starting to mix some Cyclo-cross races in there. It is great being able to train with the other athletes on the programmes and it is allowing me to learn different things and try and pick up some helpful advice about living and training every day. It is a bit different to living at home as I need to adapt to looking after myself and all manage all the other things such as cooking, cleaning, shopping and other general things but I am starting to get there now which is good.

You can keep up to date with daily life down here on my twitter @grantferguson1

Cheers Grant

Plymouth NPS

My latest race was the final National Mountain Bike round at the weekend which was being held way down south in Plymouth. It would usually be a long drive but luckily enough this time we had sorted it so that I was able to fly down which was rather good news. So we flew down early on Friday morning and arrived there about mid day so that we could do a couple of laps of the course, the course was new with lots of natural sections and quite hilly. Then on Saturday morning I got up early as the fellow people I was staying with were racing early in the morning and I travelled with them to the course and chilled out for a couple of hours watching them race before I got ready for my race. My race was 4 laps round the course which was now rather technical as it had rained and people had been round before my race so had turned slippy. Any way we lined up ready to race and waited for them to blow the whistle. Then off we went and I started quite hard and got to the front to avoid any trouble in the first section of single-track and after the first lap I found myself with a nice lead so from there on in I went at my own pace and built up a good lead and finished the race in first. It was an extra good weekend as I had won the race and the overall series winning four out of the four rounds so a very nice way to end my season.

It has been a very good year for me and I have learnt a lot, now it’s time chill out and have some time off before dabbling in some cross towards the end of the year. I would like to give a huge thank you to everyone that has helped me out and supported me this year especially my Family, Coach Phil Dixon, Friends, Boardman Bikes, Mount Zoom Products, Braveheart cycling fund, Bank of Scotland Local Heroes, Squirt Lube and everybody that has cheered me on and given me support throughout the year.
Cheers
Grant

Youth Commonwealth Games

Well my latest trip away racing was to Isle Of Man for the Youth Commonwealth games with team Scotland. It was the first time I have been to an international games event which so I was looking forward to it, that fact it was a games meant there was a big team of 50 different athletes going from Scotland and competing in 7 different sports. The cycling team consisted of Me, Stu, Taylor and Jack and we would be competing in three different events, a time-trial, Road race and a criterium. So the trip started when we left from Scotland in nice new kit on Tuesday 6^th in two coaches heading for Heysham where we were getting the boat. We arrived there in plenty of time and boarded the boat for a four hour journey to Isle of Man on a windy day which meant it was really rough! We eventually arrived though in time to get some munch and get into our accommodation which was a rather nice hotel. We then had a couple of days to have a look at the different courses before the cycling competitions started on Friday night. Firstly on the Thursday we had the Opening Ceremony of the games which consisted of all the nations going through a ceremony in the main stadium then sitting down to listen to some speeches followed by a dance show from Isle of man dance clubs which was something new and that I really enjoyed! J Then the next day competition started and the first event was a 7km time-trial along the promenade in the main town of Douglas on the island; it was a flat course with one hair pin in it and rather windy. I set out relatively hard but kept a bit back for the head wind on the way back and then just got stuck in, ended up crossing the line and went into third but dropped back and finished in 11^th place in a time of 9.51. 

The next day was the Road Race which was on a 7.5km loop that we did 13 times, it was a flattish loop but very windy and the start finish was the grandstand for the famous TT on the island. So we got there about mid day to start early in the afternoon had a bit of a spin and I was ready to go. We lined up in nations order and then we started. There was a lot of attacking first lap by different nations and a couple of crashes on the wet road but I stayed towards the front to avoid any trouble. Then after about a lap and a half a couple of the favourites attacked and I could see that it was a strong move so I got across to it and found myself in a 4 man break. We worked together and caught a boy that was up the road to create a group of 5 and it was a strong group so I was happy. The group consisted of me, Wales, England, South Africa and Australia and we did a couple of laps hard to get a gap from the bunch with two more Australians riding across to us to make a group 7 then one of them was dropped which took us down to 6 in the break. Then we worked together until the final couple of laps were we had a lead of 4min over the bunch and we started to attack each other but nobody got away and I thought about trying to go as I knew I would struggle to contest a sprint but we had been away all race and my legs were suffering. So as we came down to the final straight it was a big headwind and we s-bended all over the road and finally began to sprint with about 200 metres to go where I tried to sprint but was nowhere near as strong at sprinting as the people I was up against and finished in 6^th place. Although the people to beat me were two Australians that are current World Champions at team pursuit and points on the track and the Welsh and English men are European champions at team pursuit so I was up against it to do well in a sprint. Then the final day of competition started and it was the Criterium in the centre of Douglas. This race was going to be hard as it was an 800metre course, very windy and wet, and some mats covering tram lines to cross. We had a big warm up as we knew it would be flat out from the start as it was a shortish course so we had to be ready to race. As we lined up and they blew the whistle it was flat out and I was on the limit first couple of laps till I got going and put myself in the front group that formed of about 7, there was a fair bit of carnage in the early laps on the corners with plenty of people sliding out. Then as we got settled there was an Australian about 10 seconds up the our group which had me, another two Australians, Englishman, Welshman, South African, Canadian and a boy from isle of man. So our group was 8 and we ended up lapping everybody else so we were the only ones in the race. It was quite a tactical race as the Australians put someone up the road all they had to do was cover the counter moves which they did well and coming into the final few laps the Aussie was still up the road and our group was still 8 people. So on last lap I moved up and put myself towards the front coming out the last bend and sprinted flat out and finished the race in 5^th place which I was pleased with as it was such a crazy race. So that was the racing done and I could then chill out a bit and we went to watch some of the other competitions such as the boxing which was good to cheer on Scotland! Then the next day we had a cultural day and went for a ride in a steam train and a castle which was a good day and got a chance to find out how the other sports got on and we did well winning a lot of medals so was good trip for team Scotland. Then we finished off with the closing ceremony which was a good laugh and finally our journey home the next day which wasn’t as bad as the journey to Isle of Man. So all in all it was a great experience and a good trip and would like to thank all the people that made it happen and Mark MacKay and Graeme Herd for looking after us cyclists and to the rest of team Scotland for looking after everyone and the support. Thanks! J

World XCO Mountain Bike Championships

Hi all,
My most recent race was the World Championships and it was being held in Champery, Switzerland. After competing in the Val Di sole world cup the previous week we had travelled straight to Switzerland and we arrived there 10 days before my competitions. We were staying in a nice hotel a couple of miles from the course and in the middle of the Alps so the views were something else. Once we got there we had a couple of easy days before some 3-4 hour rides and plenty of laps of the course. The course was very good, I knew it before I arrived as I had raced a world cup on it last year and it was very similar, lots of roots quite hilly and for my race it was muddy. I had two races for worlds, the team relay was first on the Wednesday then on the Thursday it was my junior men's race. The team relay was something I hadn’t done before but it consisted of a 4 person team and each person did a lap of the course. Our team consisted of me, Kenta Gee, Tracy Moseley and Liam Killeen. We arrived at the course plenty of time before and got set up; our lead out man was Kenta, with me taking the second leg followed by Tracy then Liam finishing it off. It was exciting getting ready to race and once I finished my warm up I headed over to the start where Kenta tagged me and off I went it was one lap as hard as I could. I managed to reel in people and ended up having a race with two other juniors for my lap and came through in 7th and sent Tracy on her way. It was a very hard race effort but I was pleased with how I went and we ended up finishing in 9th which was great. 

I then headed back to the hotel to get some food and a good night’s sleep before the next day which was my race. My race was in the afternoon so we arrived at the team arena in plenty of time which meant I could sort out bottles and complete my warm up. I headed over to the pens 15minutes before my race start and chilled out waiting to be called to the line. The gridding was based on world rankings and my current world ranking was 9th and with 8 people on a row I would be the first man on the second row. As I headed to the start line I decided in the middle in between the two favourites for the race was my best place to start. My race was 4 laps of the course plus a start loop and the field was just over 100 people.

They counted down through the minutes then with 15 seconds to go I was ready, The start was crazy with people trying to fit through gaps that didn’t exist and taking some crazy lines but I stayed towards the front and out of trouble. The race began to split up the main climb and as we entered the first decent I was third wheel which was perfect. Then as I headed down the decent I came round a corner to find the two boys that were ahead laid on the ground tangled in each other so a quick bunny hop over his bike and I was in the lead! This meant I had a good view of the decent and I was able to build up some time and when I finished the start loop I found myself with a 20second lead, ya beauty! I then wasn’t sure what to do because I knew it was a long race and we were only on lap one so didn’t want to get carried away but at the same time didn’t want to hang about. I eventually got reeled in by the French national champ about half way through the lap and I followed him for the rest of the lap but I couldn’t hold his wheel as he attacked up the main climb. Then at the end of the lap I got caught by another French cyclist and a Costa Rican which was better as I could follow their wheels and I managed to get in a rhythm through all the roots and mud. We stayed together for the rest of that lap but by the end the French boy had punctured and the cost Rican drifted about 15 seconds ahead with the French leader now about 50 seconds up. I kept up my own pace then for half a lap then got joined by a Swiss cyclist and a New Zealand to form a group of three. I was able to settle into this and going into the last lap we were catching the Costa Rican cyclist. As we climbed the final hill The New Zealand boy attacked and I tried to follow which dropped the other Swiss boy and put me in 4th but I couldn’t hold the New Zealand’s wheel and he rode across to the Costa Rican who was still just 10seconds ahead but they began to race for silver and bronze and I dangled further back. I tried to make up time on the final decent so I couple be in with a chance of a medal but I wasn’t able to bring them back but I was still very pleased as I crossed the line to take 4th place at the World Championships. 

Link to report with results and photos, http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/uci-mountain-bike-world-championships-cm-2/junior-men-cross-country/results
I have a couple more races left this season with the Youth commonwealth games coming up this week followed by the final national round.

Thanks for reading, Grant

Val Di Sole World Cup

Since my last report I have had the final world cup round which was being held in Val Di Sole, Italy. I travelled to the race on Wednesday and since my race was on Sunday morning which was a change from usual I had a couple of days on my hands before the race. I spent these days doing a couple of laps of the course so I knew it well and some steady rides on the hilly roads. The course was really hilly and rather technical. It was also covered in a lot of dust which was something I wasn’t quite use to riding in as it made it very slippy and was a bit of a challenge. As I lined up on the start line early on Sunday morning I was front row and looking forward to the race. It started very fast and there was a lot of jostling of position through the start loop but I held a top 3 position for the start loop then when we got on course I broke away into the lead group of 4 of us. The pace was flat out first lap and I lost contact with the front group towards the end of the lap and stayed in 4th for a couple of laps about 20sconds off second place. I then got caught by a Spanish cyclist and I was able to use his wheel and we stayed about 30seconds behind the podium. As we approached the finish he was stronger than me and I couldn’t hold on to him on the final climb and he opened up a 10second lead which put me into 5th which is where I finally finished. It was a hard race on a hard course but I pleased with my result. Next up is the Mountain Bike World Championships in Switzerland.

Thanks for reading,

Grant

Youth Commonwealth Games Selection

I am happy that I have been selected to represent Scotland at the Youth Commonwealth Games which are being held in Isle of Man in September. The event involves 7 different sports and there is a total of 50 different athletes from the 7 sports representing Scotland. In terms of cycling there will be three events, a 15km time-trial, a 60km road race and a Criterium. My fellow team members are Stuart Mccluskey, Jack Barrett and Taylor Johnstone so it should be a very good event! Here is a photo thanks to Rebecca Lees. :)

European Mountain Bike Championships

My latest competition was the European Cross country MTB championships that were being held in Dohnany, Slovakia. We travelled there on Wednesday and then on Thursday we got on the course for a couple of laps pre-ride. The course was good it was hilly but not too technical so it was going to be a fast race, it was also sunny so it was going to be a hot race. I had spent the couple of weeks running into the race doing some good training rides on my MTB and having finished a mid season road block I was confidant but a little unsure of my form as I lined up for the start. As it was European champs all the different nations were in tents next to each other so as i warmed up it was plain to see who the competition was. After my warm up, I then headed over to the boxes where I waited to get gridded. I knew the people to watch having raced the first couple of world cup rounds and my world ranking of 7th meant that I was on the front row which was important for getting a good start.

As I lined up and they counted down the minutes to the start I was getting a bit nervous but soon enough 15seconds to go approached and I was ready, then they blew the whistle I was off. I had a good start and was third wheel after the start loop so I held the wheels through the first twisty section then as we started the first main climb the race began to split and line out with the favourite a Belgium putting in a big effort and a Swiss boy going with him. I was third at this point with a couple of French riders and we set about chasing them back. I stayed in third after two laps about 20seconds behind the Belgium rider with the Swiss rider starting to pay for his early moves, a group of about 5 was 20 seconds further back chasing me. Going into the third lap I had managed to catch the Swiss boy on the climb and put a bit of time into him so the only rider left in front was the Belgium rider at about 20seconds. I was still feeling good when I got to lap four but I wasn’t catching him and he started to drift further away to about 40seconds and I hoped he would start to pay last lap and I would still stand a chance of catching him. As the bell rung going into the final lap I still had some energy left so I kept pressing on the pedals as hard as I could and put in the fastest last lap but I couldn’t bring him back and as I went round the final bend and crossed the line I had finished the European Championships in second place 34 seconds behind the Belgium Cyclist which I was very happy about! It was my first trip to the podium at International level and a silver medal so I am very pleased!!  Next up I have a world cup at Val Di Sole, Italy, followed by World Championships at the end of the month in Switzerland. Thanks for reading Grant.