Scottish cycling stars secure success

See orginal article @ EN4 News here

There was much Scottish success to celebrate at the British Track Cycling Championships in Manchester.

Sprint cyclist, Lusia Steele, from Renfrewshire was one of the athletes returning home with a medal round her neck.

The 19-year-old clinched a silver medal in the women’s team sprint along with fellow Scot, Lucy Grant, while also earning a personal best in the individual sprint.

Speaking exclusively to EN4 News, Steele said: “I was pretty pleased with how nationals went this year, I was a bit unwell in the lead up to it, so I almost didn’t race on Friday, thankfully I did though.”

“We managed to beat our own Scottish record and I managed to get a personal best in my lap. As always there are a few things that have left me a bit frustrated but overall, it was a pretty successful weekend.”

It has been a big few years for the Scottish teenager who upped and moved to Manchester after she was invited to join the Great British Cycling Team as part of the Under 23 academy squad in 2018. Since then, she has represented the squad not only nationally but also at last year’s UCI Junior track World championships.

Image credit: Sophie Capewell

Talking about her time training with the GBCT, Ms. Steele said, “Training as part of the program with such an amazing group of people is really good, we all cheer each other on. Having the morale of the group and knowing no matter what time you do they’ll still be there to support you helps.”

Ms. Steele added:” We all just trust the process and trust that the results will come from it.”

When asked what her long-term goal is, she said: “The obvious answer is the 2024 Olympics, it’s basically what every athlete wants. On the way there hopefully, there will be the chance to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth games.”

Further Scottish success included Endurance rider, John Archibald who came home with two national titles, after retaining his own Individual pursuit title and claiming gold in the team pursuit along with his teammates.

Mr. Archibald's success is one that has captured the attention of cycling fans across the country, not only for being the brother of cycling golden girl Katie Archibald, but for rising through the ranks very quickly with no funding and unusually not joining the British cycling team.

Olympian turned sports journalist, Susan Egelstaff, told EN4News: “‘It’s really inspiring that there are guys that aren’t in the system and are still doing really well.”

She con hard. You’ve got a really good chance of working your way up the rungs of the ladder.”

For more senior riders, the British Championships was another chance to prove themselves on the competition stage before Olympic selection.

Jack Carlin, the 22-year-old from Paisley has all but cemented his place in Tokyo this year after taking home his fourth national title in the Team Sprint, alongside his team which included six-time Olympic champion Jason Kenny.

Egelstaff stated that not only is this team pretty much assured a place in Japan this year, but they also have a very good chance of medaling.

When asked what she will take away from the performances at the weekend, Egelstaff said “Scottish track cycling has been doing so well for so long, so it’s good to see there’s some strength in depth with a new wave of riders coming through.”

It seems that the future of track cycling is bright for Scotland in Tokyo and beyond.

“It shows young Scottish riders that there are different paths. There’s isn’t any magic formula.'