The Scottish national road racing season begins this Saturday (16 March) with the 120 kilometre Gifford Road Race, one of three National B road races this weekend.
What is it?
Organised by the Edinburgh Road Club, the 16th edition of the Gifford Road Race (National B) forms Round 1 of the 2024 Alba Series, a five-round road race series supported by Scottish Cycling. Racing begins at 13.00 and follows a Regional B race that takes place in the morning.
The route
The riders will take on nine laps of the Gifford circuit in East Lothian, east of Edinburgh. It’s an undulating course, taking in 167m of elevation per lap, and often windy, resulting in attritional racing.
Contenders and startlist
A slim field of 47 riders makes up the provisional startlist. The Wheelbase CabTech Castelli team feature some headline acts. Tim Shoreman is the Scottish road race champion and comes in the 2024 season off the back of a standout 2023 which saw him win the Fort Vale Colne Grand Prix and take bronze in the national circuit race championships. A fast finisher, he will be a dangerman on this course. His teammate Tom Martin is another powerful rider who demonstrated his early season from with third at the Clayton Spring Classic. Jacob Smith is another option for the team, even if the climber might not suit the course as much as Shoreman and Martin.
Other notable names include Ross Birrell. The former Great Britain Academy rider had a challenging 2023 after the collapse of his AT85 Pro Cycling team and will be looking to start the road season in positive fashion. Last year’s Alba Series winner Craig Paterson lines up to defend his title, this time riding for his new Vanelli-Project Go team. Junior national road race champion Finn Mason (USKIS Saint Piran) is another contender in his first race as an under-23.
| No. | Forename | Surname | Team |
| 1 | Cameron | Adam | Spokes Racing Team |
| 2 | Robert | Armstrong | |
| 3 | Alasdair | Baillie | Velocity 44 RT |
| 4 | Ross | Birrell | |
| 5 | Greig | Brown | Vanelli-Project Go |
| 6 | Conal | Davidson | Spokes Racing Team |
| 7 | Oliver | Dawson | Wolf Cycles |
| 8 | Alan | Dean | Edinburgh RC |
| 9 | Sean | Dodsworth | Army Cycling Union |
| 10 | Colin | Dunlop | |
| 11 | William | Dykes | Vanelli-Project Go |
| 12 | Samuel | Edgar | Ribble rechrg Race Team |
| 13 | Archie | Ellen | The Cycling Academy |
| 14 | Alexander | Foster | Wolf Cycles |
| 15 | Tarn | Fynn | JG Cycles CC |
| 16 | Keir | Gaffney | Vanelli-Project Go |
| 17 | Mark | Hansom | TS Racing |
| 18 | Joshua | Higgins | Torvelo Racing |
| 19 | Graham | Hollinger | Torvelo Racing |
| 20 | Henry | Hunter | Kendal Cycle Club |
| 21 | Sam | Kettlewell | Spirit TBW Stuart Hall Cycling |
| 22 | Alex | Luhrs | |
| 23 | Hamish | MacLaren | |
| 24 | Tom | Martin | Wheelbase CabTech Castelli |
| 25 | Lewis | Martin | Studio Velo |
| 26 | Finn | Mason | USKIS Saint Piran |
| 27 | Alasdair | McAlpine | Glasgow United CC |
| 28 | Finn | McHenry | The Cycling Academy |
| 29 | Alastair | McNicol | dooleys cycles |
| 30 | Ciaran | McSherry | 05/03 |
| 31 | Louis | Moore | Wheelbase CabTech Castelli |
| 32 | Alex | Mutter | |
| 33 | Innes | Ogilvie | |
| 34 | Craig | Paterson | Vanelli-Project Go |
| 35 | Jack | Rees | Moonglu RT |
| 36 | Callum | Reid | The Cycling Academy |
| 37 | Fergus | Robinson | Ribble rechrg Race Team |
| 38 | Lee | Rosie | Wheelbase CabTech Castelli |
| 39 | Liam | Scott Douglas | JG Cycles CC |
| 40 | Callum | Sharp | Veloclub Edinburgh |
| 41 | Tim | Shoreman | Wheelbase CabTech Castelli |
| 42 | Jacob | Smith | Wheelbase CabTech Castelli |
| 43 | Daniel | Smith | Leadout Performance |
| 44 | Murray | Soutter | Torvelo Racing |
| 45 | William | Taylor | Moonglu Race Team |
| 46 | Thomas | Timothy | HUUB WattShop |
| 47 | Ross | Turner | Fietsen Tempo |
