THE boards of the new Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome have been well and truly christened after a host of international cycling names took to the track in Glasgow over the weekend.
The three-day Scottish National Track Championships incorporated the Braveheart Cycling Fund's charity exhibition event, ThunderDrome, to a sell-out crowd on Saturday to which the venue's namesake, Hoy, lent his support alongside Paralympic tandem pilot and gold medallist Craig MacLean and former world pursuit champion and holder of the hour record Graeme Obree.
Six-time Olympic champion Hoy found himself pipped to a win in the charity sprint match, first by "Mr Thigh" – German cyclist Robert Forstemann – and then in the bronze medal race by his old team-mate and former sparring partner MacLean.
But he made up for it with a storming finish in the keirin, an event Hoy has dominated since 2007, and in which he is the reigning world and Olympic champion.
Scottish pro cyclists Andy Fenn of Omega Pharma-QuickStep, Evan Oliphant of Raleigh-GAC and James McCallum of Rapha Condor Sharp competed in a ThunderDrome devil elimination race in which Russell Downing of Livingston-based Endura Racing emerged the eventual victor.
The three-day event also provided a showcase for up-and-coming Scottish talent, among them Callum Skinner and John Paul, both tipped as future stars by Hoy, who train together at British Cycling's Olympic Academy in Manchester and represent City of Edinburgh Racing Club.
In their first head-to-head on Friday evening, Paul, 19, emerged triumphant, producing a dominating ride to take the Scottish national keirin title.
The pair were due to battle it out in the final of the men's sprint on Saturday afternoon, but there was disappointment for Skinner, 20, after a heavy fall during the opening round of the charity match against Paul and English rider Kian Emadi forced him to withdraw.
Paul, junior world sprint and double European junior champion in 2011, took the default win in track cycling's blue riband event, with Skinner awarded the silver and their City of Edinburgh RC team-mate Bruce Croall taking bronze.
Earlier in the day Skinner, who was this month crowned British national sprint champion, set a Scottish record of 10.35 before fracturing his collarbone later in the sprint match. Paul said: "It's unfortunate the way it worked out with Callum getting injured and my thoughts are with him. No-one wants to win that way but at the end of the day it's all part of racing."
He added: "I was ill last week so I didn't have high expectations coming into this weekend, but I'm delighted with how it went. It's a nice way to round off my season."
In the women's competition Charline Joiner (City of Edinburgh RC) claimed victory over Kayleigh Brogan (Team Ibis Cycles) and Emma Baird (City of Edinburgh RC) in the keirin.
Baird, meanwhile, won the 500m time trial on Friday evening, setting a Scottish record, with Eleanor Richardson (Edinburgh RC) taking silver and Jennifer Davis (City of Edinburgh RC) bronze.
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