2026 Scottish National Road Race Championships: preview and startlists
Three national titles are decided at Strathaven on Saturday, on the Drumclog roads that have belonged to the Drummond Trophy since the 1950s. Tim Shoreman heads the open field; in the women’s race, a 17-year-old who was second at a National A last weekend can win two jerseys in an afternoon.
Three national titles are decided at Strathaven on Saturday, on the Drumclog roads that have belonged to the Drummond Trophy since the 1950s. Tim Shoreman heads the open field; in the women’s race, a 17-year-old who was second at a National A last weekend can win the junior title and the race outright in an afternoon.
Here is our preview.
Featured image: Corin Halliday
What is it?
The championships are organised by JG CC on the outskirts of Strathaven in South Lanarkshire, using the same parcours as the Drummond Trophy—one of Scotland’s oldest road races, first run in the 1950s, and a fixture the same club has kept alive in recent seasons.
The move gives Scottish Cycling a championship on a course with genuine history, but it has cost the domestic season its traditional finale. Three titles are on offer: senior open, senior women’s, and junior women’s.
The roll of honour is a decent guide to what the jersey means. John Archibald took it in 2019, David Duggan in 2021, Matti Dobbins in 2022, Tim Shoreman in 2023, Logan Maclean in 2024 and Sam Chisholm in 2025. On the women’s side, Jennifer George won in 2019, Becky Storrie in 2021, Beth Harley-Jepson in 2022, Eilidh Shaw in 2023, Beth Morrow in 2024 and Lulu Bartlett in 2025.
Route
Both races use the 20-kilometre Drumclog loop. Each lap runs west from Strathaven towards Drumclog before turning south for Dungavel, a long drag rather than a steep climb, and one that does its damage cumulatively. The roads are narrow and exposed, the surfaces rough in places, and the return towards Strathaven rarely lets the bunch settle.
The finish is the circuit’s signature. With just over a kilometre remaining the route squeezes through a small bridge and into a sharp left-hander, which fires the race onto a high-speed drag up the B743 into Strathaven. Position matters more there than power does.
The open race covers seven laps for a stated distance of 145 kilometres, starting at 10.00. The women’s race is four laps and starts at 15.00.
Riders to watch
Open race
Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) arrives as the outstanding rider in the field and with the strongest recent form of anyone here. He won the Beaumont Trophy, a National Road Series round, on 9 August, and made his Commonwealth Games debut for Team Scotland this summer. He also has the deepest history with these roads: champion in 2023, second to Chisholm last year, and winner of the Drummond Trophy over this circuit in 2022. If the race comes down to a small group on the B743, he is the most complete option in it.
Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli) wins the Beaumont Trophy. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Shoreman’s teammate Aaron King, third in 2023, is having one of his best seasons ye and is a contender in his own right. The team also fields David Lines and Robert Smart, ninth here last year.
Logan Maclean has the best claim to being the rider this circuit was built for. Champion in 2024, third last year after attacking hard enough on Whistlefield that only John Archibald and Oliver Pemberton could follow, and winner of the 2025 Gifford Road Race. He races without a squad around him, which on seven laps against a team of eight is a real problem, but he has spent four consecutive championships making the race rather than waiting on it.
Sam Chisholm (Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT) defends the title he took on Whistlefield last May. His road programme has been lighter in 2026, though the organisers point to a strong ride at the Fort Vale Colne Grand Prix in June as evidence the form is there when he wants it.
Chisholm wins in 2025. Image: The Press Room
Chisholm’s Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT squad boasts strength in numbers and has options at every point in the race. Samuel Carrotte comes in off a win at Fetternear and a strong ride at the Beaumont Trophy. Elliot Bain was beaten by inches at the Sam Robinson Memorial Trophy last month. Craig Paterson won the Hugh Dornan Memorial in May, with teammate Liam Scott Douglas second there and 10th in last year’s championship. Ciaran McSherry was fifth in 2025 and second in 2023.
Among the younger riders, Evan Marsh (BCC Race Team) has the best championship record of any of them, having finished fourth last year at 17. Teammate James Sweeney and Elliot Speedie (Shibden Apex RT) are both chasing a first senior title. Toby Tanfield (TS Racing) was fourth at the 2025 Drummond Trophy and so knows the finish as well as anybody. Kieran Savage and Alan Dean lead a three-rider Edinburgh RC contingent.
Women’s race
Melanie Rowe (Private Member) has the best recent result of anyone in either race. Five days ago she finished second at the North Yorkshire Grand Prix, the final round of the women’s National Road Series, beaten only by Anna Morris in a three-up sprint and finishing ahead of Loughborough Lightning’s Lily Martin. She won the Gifford Road Race outright in March, as a junior, out-sprinting Handsling Alba’s Anna Flynn and Arabella Blackburn after breaking the front group apart lap by lap. She is eligible for both the senior and junior titles on Saturday.
Melanie Rowe at the North Yorkshire Grand Prix. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Solas Cycling supply seven of the 22 starters. Lowri Richards won the Solihull CC Women’s Road Race in July, timing a sprint on an awkward uphill finish that suits what Strathaven will ask. Lydia Louw was in the decisive five-rider move at Gifford and finished fifth, and won at the Lake of Menteith earlier this season. Millie Thomson has two Scotia Series wins this year, at the Dyke APR and the Torvelo Road Race.
Eve Fairbairn (Liv CC–Halo Films) took the Scottish omnium title on the track in May and is the most obvious rival to Rowe for the junior jersey. Eleanor Dixon (The Hera Project), Beth Macrae (Jadan Glasdon p/b Vive le Velo) and Teri Bayliss (FTP–Fulfil The Potential Racing) head the senior contenders from outside the Solas squad.
Neither champion returns. Lulu Bartlett is not entered, nor is 2025 junior winner Kayla Dinnin. Nor is any rider from Handsling Alba Development Road Team, Scotland’s UCI Continental women’s squad, who are at the Tour of Britain Women.
Three national titles are decided at Strathaven on Saturday, on the Drumclog roads that have belonged to the Drummond Trophy since the 1950s. Tim Shoreman heads the open field; in the women’s race, a 17-year-old who was second at a National A last weekend can win the junior title and the race outright in an afternoon.
Here is our preview.
Featured image: Corin Halliday
What is it?
The championships are organised by JG CC on the outskirts of Strathaven in South Lanarkshire, using the same parcours as the Drummond Trophy—one of Scotland’s oldest road races, first run in the 1950s, and a fixture the same club has kept alive in recent seasons.
The move gives Scottish Cycling a championship on a course with genuine history, but it has cost the domestic season its traditional finale. Three titles are on offer: senior open, senior women’s, and junior women’s.
The roll of honour is a decent guide to what the jersey means. John Archibald took it in 2019, David Duggan in 2021, Matti Dobbins in 2022, Tim Shoreman in 2023, Logan Maclean in 2024 and Sam Chisholm in 2025. On the women’s side, Jennifer George won in 2019, Becky Storrie in 2021, Beth Harley-Jepson in 2022, Eilidh Shaw in 2023, Beth Morrow in 2024 and Lulu Bartlett in 2025.
Route
Both races use the 20-kilometre Drumclog loop. Each lap runs west from Strathaven towards Drumclog before turning south for Dungavel, a long drag rather than a steep climb, and one that does its damage cumulatively. The roads are narrow and exposed, the surfaces rough in places, and the return towards Strathaven rarely lets the bunch settle.
The finish is the circuit’s signature. With just over a kilometre remaining the route squeezes through a small bridge and into a sharp left-hander, which fires the race onto a high-speed drag up the B743 into Strathaven. Position matters more there than power does.
The open race covers seven laps for a stated distance of 145 kilometres, starting at 10.00. The women’s race is four laps and starts at 15.00.
Riders to watch
Open race
Tim Shoreman (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) arrives as the outstanding rider in the field and with the strongest recent form of anyone here. He won the Beaumont Trophy, a National Road Series round, on 9 August, and made his Commonwealth Games debut for Team Scotland this summer. He also has the deepest history with these roads: champion in 2023, second to Chisholm last year, and winner of the Drummond Trophy over this circuit in 2022. If the race comes down to a small group on the B743, he is the most complete option in it.
Shoreman’s teammate Aaron King, third in 2023, is having one of his best seasons ye and is a contender in his own right. The team also fields David Lines and Robert Smart, ninth here last year.
Logan Maclean has the best claim to being the rider this circuit was built for. Champion in 2024, third last year after attacking hard enough on Whistlefield that only John Archibald and Oliver Pemberton could follow, and winner of the 2025 Gifford Road Race. He races without a squad around him, which on seven laps against a team of eight is a real problem, but he has spent four consecutive championships making the race rather than waiting on it.
Sam Chisholm (Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT) defends the title he took on Whistlefield last May. His road programme has been lighter in 2026, though the organisers point to a strong ride at the Fort Vale Colne Grand Prix in June as evidence the form is there when he wants it.
Chisholm’s Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT squad boasts strength in numbers and has options at every point in the race. Samuel Carrotte comes in off a win at Fetternear and a strong ride at the Beaumont Trophy. Elliot Bain was beaten by inches at the Sam Robinson Memorial Trophy last month. Craig Paterson won the Hugh Dornan Memorial in May, with teammate Liam Scott Douglas second there and 10th in last year’s championship. Ciaran McSherry was fifth in 2025 and second in 2023.
Among the younger riders, Evan Marsh (BCC Race Team) has the best championship record of any of them, having finished fourth last year at 17. Teammate James Sweeney and Elliot Speedie (Shibden Apex RT) are both chasing a first senior title. Toby Tanfield (TS Racing) was fourth at the 2025 Drummond Trophy and so knows the finish as well as anybody. Kieran Savage and Alan Dean lead a three-rider Edinburgh RC contingent.
Women’s race
Melanie Rowe (Private Member) has the best recent result of anyone in either race. Five days ago she finished second at the North Yorkshire Grand Prix, the final round of the women’s National Road Series, beaten only by Anna Morris in a three-up sprint and finishing ahead of Loughborough Lightning’s Lily Martin. She won the Gifford Road Race outright in March, as a junior, out-sprinting Handsling Alba’s Anna Flynn and Arabella Blackburn after breaking the front group apart lap by lap. She is eligible for both the senior and junior titles on Saturday.
Solas Cycling supply seven of the 22 starters. Lowri Richards won the Solihull CC Women’s Road Race in July, timing a sprint on an awkward uphill finish that suits what Strathaven will ask. Lydia Louw was in the decisive five-rider move at Gifford and finished fifth, and won at the Lake of Menteith earlier this season. Millie Thomson has two Scotia Series wins this year, at the Dyke APR and the Torvelo Road Race.
Eve Fairbairn (Liv CC–Halo Films) took the Scottish omnium title on the track in May and is the most obvious rival to Rowe for the junior jersey. Eleanor Dixon (The Hera Project), Beth Macrae (Jadan Glasdon p/b Vive le Velo) and Teri Bayliss (FTP–Fulfil The Potential Racing) head the senior contenders from outside the Solas squad.
Neither champion returns. Lulu Bartlett is not entered, nor is 2025 junior winner Kayla Dinnin. Nor is any rider from Handsling Alba Development Road Team, Scotland’s UCI Continental women’s squad, who are at the Tour of Britain Women.
Provisional startlists
Open race
Women’s race
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