Youth Tour of Scotland

Post date: Apr 16, 2018 8:36:41 AM

(By Caoimhe O’Brien - Sun. 15th April 2018)

I was delighted when I got the call that I was selected to represent Ireland at the Youth Tour of Scotland (YTOS). I was looking forward to it so much because the racing over in Scotland is so good and it is really nice to race on different roads and also get to compete against girls from different countries.

The whole trip began on Friday when I met up with my teammates at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown before travelling north to Belfast Port for our ferry to Scotland. There was a lot of travelling on the Scottish side to get to Strathallan School in Perthshire where we were staying for the weekend but it was worth it.

The first stage of the Tour was a very hilly road race on Saturday morning. It was a very fast start to the race and I got into the first bunch. The group then split up at the hill for King of the Mountains (KOM) points. For the remainder of the race the laps went by very quickly and I was happy to finish with the bunch.

Sunday was the busiest day because we had a team time trial (TTT) in the morning and another road race in the afternoon.. Our TTT went very well. We all worked hard to finish as seventh team which was a really good result since we have never done a TTT together before.

The road race in the evening was on a flat and very fast course. It started fast again like the race the day before. I got into the first group and rode well to finish second Irish girl. With three races now completed I was tired but looking forward to the technical kermesse which was our final race on Monday morning.

We had an early start on Monday for this stage which was held on a very twisty circuit with a long tough drag to the finish. The race was held over ten laps which went by very fast and split very quickly. I was very happy because I got into a good group that raced hard throughout. The hill tested us but I managed to survive the ten laps and as delighted to finish second Irish girl.

Going to the Youth Tour of Scotland was an amazing experience that I enjoyed so much. I learned so much over the weekend and I was so lucky to go with an amazing team of girls. Thanks to everybody who helped me with all my training and supported me for this trip, especially my family and the Cycling Ireland team managers. Thanks also for reading my story and I can’t wait to go away racing again!

Caoimhe O'Brien (Centre) competing for Ireland at the Youth Tour of Scotland.