Cycling: Creber ready for uphill challenge in city race

WEST LOTHIAN cyclist Ross Creber will be looking to add to his growing collection of big-name scalps when he lines up in tomorrow night's Edinburgh Nocturne over a tough circuit in the Grassmarket.

The 21-year-old got the better of several top names on his way to 14th place – and third spot in the under-23 category – at last weekend's British road race championships in Lancashire – among them UCI ProTour stars David Millar and Mark Cavendish, who failed to finish the gruelling 180-kilometre event.

Creber will be back in the saddle for little more than an hour tomorrow, with his eye on the Australian trio Cameron Meyer – multi world track champion and team-mate of Millar at Garmin – Garmin's world junior champion Luke Durbridge, and Matt Goss, a Team Columbia colleague of Cavendish and a stage winner at the Giro d'Italia earlier this season.

It is a return visit for Meyer, who created a big impression last year when he assisted Millar to victory around the tough 1.2km circuit which starts in the Grassmarket, and sees the riders climb Victoria Street before turning right along George IV Bridge and descending back towards the start.

Other top riders on show include Russell Downing of Team Sky and Jonny Bellis from the Saxo Bank Team. For Manxman Bellis, the race is the latest step along the road towards recovery after a scooter accident in Italy last year that almost cost him his life. Like several of the sport's biggest stars, Millar is on Tour de France duty this weekend.

In the circumstances, James Pope of race organiser Face Partnership is delighted to have attracted so many stars.

"Initially, we were worried that a clash with the start of the Tour would make it difficult to get riders," said Pope. "However, there are only nine riders from each team in the Tour so the other riders have been looking for racing and have been contacting us eager to come to Edinburgh.

"We are really pleased to have four ProTour teams represented. Meyer and Durbridge have already made their intentions clear about working together for the win so the calibre of racing is set to be superb."

Other local challengers in the 34-strong field include Alex Coutts, whose climbing skills may prove useful, Creber's team-mate Evan Oliphant, who was the leading home-based Scot in ninth place last year, and James McCallum, a former British criterium champion. His successor, Dean Downing (Rapha Condor) heads the challenge from south of the Border.

The action gets starts at 6pm with the first of two support races, the second starting at 7.15pm. A folding bike race, contested over three laps, takes place at 8pm with competitors riding in business suits, and the last of the warm-up events at 8.30pm is a corporate relay challenge.

The flag will drop for the main event at 8.45pm and the competitors will race for an hour plus five laps.