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For the second year running, Cathkin Braes will host a major British competition, this year the British Cycling Cross Country Mountain Bike Championships.
The event is the pinnacle of the domestic mountain bike calendar, and many top names are already entered. In the Senior men’s event, local talent Grant Ferguson, fresh from top performances on the world stage will return to the Commonwealth Games course.
However this event is not just for the Elite riders, with entries encouraged across all categories. A strong Scottish contingent will bolster the strength of the field, with plenty of support for local riders.
Competition takes place on the weekend of the 16th and 17th of July, with the Saturday support races an exciting way for newcomers to experience the full event set up, but with less pressure. There is also fast, fun and friendly Under 12s category racing on the Saturday evening to keep the kids entertained.
On Sunday, there is a full competition schedule, with Scottish riders across all categories looking to claim Champions jerseys, podium medals or simply achieve their position goals.
For Championship categories, all riders must be pre-entered before Monday 4th July.
Under 12s and Saturday race categories can pre-enter on line or just turn up and enter on the day.
The event is hosted by the Scottish Cross Country (SXC) Association, with support from Scottish Cycling.
Steve Brown, Chair of the SXC says: “We are pushing to get as many Scottish riders entered into the British Championships at Cathkin Braes as possible. It is a real honour for us to have been chosen to host the highlight of the domestic XC calendar for 2016, and we encourage all of our regular SXC racers to come along and take part. We are setting a challenging course, combining the usual Catkin trails with some exciting new features. Let’s show off how strong our Scottish riders and race scene is!”
Paul Newnham, Scottish Cycling Scottish Cycling Mountain Bike Coach agrees: “I’m obviously delighted that the British XC Championships are returning to Scotland this year. Cathkin Braes is a fast and exciting race circuit and we’ve been working together to put in some interesting new lines to spice things up! Having seen the racing at both SXC and BMBS level I know that the Scottish domestics riders are more than capable of mixing it up with the best riders in the country so it would be great to see as many SXC regulars there as possible. It will be a great day out and I am looking forward to seeing lots of Scottish podium place finishes throughout the day”