Podium places for West Lothian Clarion riders at Stirling Bike Club's cyclo cross event

West Lothian Clarion's Gregor Hunter was a winner at the Stirling Bike Club cyclo cross race at Plean Country Park

As in previous years, the course was a challenging mix of features, including sections on tarmac, trail and grass. With the recent weather, this soon made for some muddy conditions in parts of the course, but the club’s riders had a great day and were very happy with the results they came away with.

Clarion had a single entrant in each of the Under-8 categories, with Emelia Crombie coming fifth in the girls’ race and Cameron Bark taking sixth in the boys’ race.

The Under-10 girls’ race saw the first Clarion podium finish of the day, with Georgina Bark putting in a strong performance to take third place.

In the Under-10 boys’ race, Rhuairdh Fulton took fifth place, with Alexei Bleteau in seventh place, Wil Mitchell in 11th and Ollie Paterson taking 17th place - though there was frustration for Hamish Hunter who had to retire.

In the Under-12 categories, Eriska Paterson and Brodie Duncan both narrowly missed the podium, taking fourth place in the girls’ and boys’ races.

Katie Galloway was literally in a class of her own in the Under-14 girls’ race, but again demonstrated her strength and skill as she raced alongside the boys, where Gregor Hunter led the Clarion charge and took first place, with new member Ruan Vorster taking sixth place and Finlay Turner and Noah Bleteau also finishing in the top 10.

In the final youth category, Under 16, Andrew Turner won the boys’ race, with Miller Crombie taking third place, closely followed by Max Guthrie and Sean Grant.

A number of adult members were out to represent the club, too, with the best result being Ailsa Curtis’s second place in the V40F category.

Nina Tomlin also put in a good performance in a strong women’s field, with Alan Ramsay the best placed man, taking sixth place in the V40M category. Simon Kenny finished 11th in the same race and David Hordon took 18th spot in the V50M category.

Youth section President Ewen Fulton said: “It was great to see so many of our riders out supporting this fantastic grassroots race, and a good opportunity for our riders to hone their skills against members of other clubs.

“It’s been an ideal warm-up for next week’s Scottish Championships at Fife College, and our members will take confidence there from the strong performances they’ve put in today.”