Cycling: Paul on verge of Bremen glory

City OF EDINBURGH cyclist John Paul goes into tonight’s penultimate session of the Six Days of Bremen meeting in Germany with a comfortable lead.

The 19-year-old lost ground on Saturday, reaching the half way point of the sprint competition with his overall advantage whittled down to just two points.

The former World Junior champion, however, bounced back yesterday by maintaining his supremacy in the time trial, again taking top spot, linking up with Capital rider Callum Skinner and Welshman Lewis Oliva to take the team sprint honours ahead of German rivals Erik Balzer, Philipp Thiele and Sebastian Doehrer.

Paul finished fourth behind his nearest challenger in the points standings, Doehrer, in the Keirin and third to Skinner in the individual sprint. That points haul was enough to build an overall advantage of four points.

Doehrer still occupies second place, with Skinner – who slipped out of the top three on Saturday – remaining fifth although he now has third-placed Thiele and Balzer in his sights.

Meanwhile, Emma Borthwick of the Edinburgh Road Club’s Martin Currie Racing Team finished ninth in the Under-16 girls British Cyclocross Championships in Bradford.

Borthwick’s team-mates, Sean Flynn and Emily Strathdee, finished 24th and 12th respectively in the Under-14 category.

The top Scottish performance came in the Under-23 men’s race where Peebles rider Grant Ferguson powered to victory 33 seconds ahead of defending champion, Steve James.