Nine riders take on the Youth Tour of Scotland
Tough three-day race
East Kilbride Road Club had nine riders representing Scottish Regional Teams at the recent Youth Tour of Scotland in Perthshire – and two of them came home with medals.
In the tough three-day stage race involving 160 riders from all over the United Kingdom and Europe, the club had the largest group of riders from any other club in the country.
The race itself was held on various closed road circuits in and around the base of Strathallan School.
And EK road Club were celebrating after they earned a fantastic one-two in the girls’ race, with Imani Periera-James taking the top prize and Morven Yeoman finishing second.
Coach Guto Williams, who also managed one of the girls’ squads, said: “This is one of, if not the biggest, youth race in the UK and involves three days and four stages of hard racing against the best riders in the UK.
“The race also attracted continental teams this year, so for a club like East Kilbride to get nine riders in a race of this standard is very impressive and is a testament to the hard work that our young riders are putting in.”
“We have a relatively young squad compared to some of the other teams so to come away with first and second Scottish riders in the girls race is quite outstanding.”
The riders competed in Regional or Composite Teams, as it’s not a club event, and they were required to go through a selection process to get into the race.
While some of the EK riders were competing for the top prizes some of the younger riders are there to gain experience for future years.
The full list of riders who competed for the club were Craig Paterson, Murray Lawson, Beth Moore, Kirsty Hay, Imani PerieraJames, Morven Yeoman, Fiona Hay, Grace McCabe and Kiera Chan.
And fellow EKRC coach, Gregor Yeoman, said: “For a number of the riders this was their second appearance and you could tell that they had learned from the previous year as all their performances had improved.
“To get two girls, who are racing against girls two years older onto the Scottish podium is great testament to their character.
“The club continues to grow in strength and we are now one of the top ranking youth cycling clubs in the UK.”
Visit http://www.ekroadclub. co.uk/ for more details on the club.