It’s been a great weekend in Liévin for GB’s younger riders, who are the target of the EvoDevo project. EvoDevo alumni Oscar Amey and Milo Wills were part of the world-beating relay team who scythed through the field to finally take a nail-biting gold on Friday, winning rainbow jerseys all round.
Then on Saturday another EvoDevo alumnus, Ellie Mitchinson, coped with changing conditions – a mixture of hard frost and sticky mud – to take 23rd in the junior women’s race. Arabella Blackburn and Zoe Roche (who had been offered EvoDevo support this season that unfortunately didn’t work out due to their World Cup commitments) finished a great 17th and 18th respectively.
Junior women Zoe Roche, Arabella Blackburn and Ellie Mitchinson. Photos by Dave Mitchinson.
Finally, on Sunday, Oscar and Milo were back out on course, this time riding against each other in the junior men’s race. Junior National Champion Oscar took an early lead before a tangle with a French rider just after pit 1 dropped him back a few places, finally finishing in 6th. Milo, still a first-year junior, rode an excellent race in the second group for 10th place.
Junior men Oscar Amey and Milo Wills (@cyclist_jonathan), plus a sample of how muddy the bikes started to get as the championship weekend progressed.
The current batch of U23s – who established themselves before EvoDevo came along – but remember, U23s can still apply – were strongly represented by Zoe Bäckstedt, Ella Maclean-Howell, Imogen Wolff and Cat Ferguson. Congratulations to Zoe who took an amazing victory in the U23W’s race following a dominant performance, backed up by strong rides from the other women in 8th, 9th and 13th respectively.