Tour de Yorkshire - Jacob Scott bids for Swift impact on familiar terrain

Among the casualties was the One Pro squad which disbanded last October. That left some talented riders without a team, including Yorkshire duo Pete Williams and Jacob Scott.

But often when one door closes another opens and while Yorkshire lost one UCI Continental team, Holdsworth Bikes which folded last autumn at the end of its debut season, the county has gained another.

SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling, managed by Pateley Bridge-based Paul Lamb, are a new squad competing at UCI Continental level, the third tier of the sport below World Tour and Pro-Continental status.

Having developed out of the well-established former KTM team, SwiftCarbon are confident of making a success of their new venture.

They have also provided a lifeline for both Williams and Scott who will be among the riders on the start line when this year’s Tour de Yorkshire begins in Doncaster on Thursday afternoon.

SwiftCarbon are new kids on the Tour de Yorkshire block and, as well as giving home fans a local team to cheer, have offered an opportunity for Scott to get his career back on track.

And he is keen to repay that faith. The sad end to his time at One Pro has given Scott, from Holmfirth, added incentive to prove himself this season and particularly in this week’s race.

“There’s a few riders here who feel like they’ve got something to prove,” said Scott, who is one of the more experienced members of the team having raced in Belgium for three years and spent two seasons with Irish team An Post Chain Reaction before joining SwiftCarbon from OnePro at the end of 2018.

“I am one of those, big time. I am grateful for the opportunity Paul has given me and I think he knows I have got something to prove.”

Scott, 23, will enter the Tour de Yorkshire fresh from a fourth- place finish in last Sunday’s Rutland-Melton Classic.

He rode the Tour de Yorkshire last year and is relishing another opportunity to ride on home roads in a high-profile event, which annually draws some of the biggest crowds on the circuit.

“We got close to Holmfirth last year, but didn’t go through it,” he recalled.

“The previous two or three editions had gone through Holmfirth, but since I started doing it and it has gone to four days it hasn’t.

“That’s a bit disappointing, but the final stage last year started in Halifax and going through to Leeds was pretty special.

“It was a hard stage, it was a good day out, the weather was unbelievable and just to be a Yorkshire lad riding on Yorkshire roads is nice.”

This year’s race starts in Doncaster on Thursday, with a stage one finish outside the abbey in Selby.

Stage two takes the riders from Barnsley to Bedale and is what some of the big names are here for, as it tackles the circuit in Harrogate which will be used for this September’s UCI Road World Championships.

Saturday begins in Bridlington with the now traditional finish on Scarborough seafront and the race will be decided on Sunday afternoon on the Headrow in Leeds, after a 175km slog from the Piece Hall in Halifax.

“Last year it was staggered so you’d do a flat stage into Doncaster, then the rolling stage that finished up the Cow and Calf and then Scarborough,” recalled Scott.

“People were trying to take it easy that day then it got really hard towards the end and it was a lot more work than people had hoped for.

“Then we had Leeds which wasn’t tricky, but it was generally hard.

“I think if it had gone really, really crazy through the whole stage it would have been even worse than it was coming into Leeds.”

SwiftCarbon are keen to justify the organisers’ decision to include them on a team list which features some of the world’s top teams and leading individuals, including four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome of Ineos, formerly Team Sky.

“Paul (Lamb) is committed to getting the team to a level where we can turn up to race, not just participate,” said Scott.

“We want to do well, but we can’t just focus on the Tour de Yorkshire.

“We will go there in the best possible shape and whatever happens, happens.

“There’s a lot of big teams there which of course you want to prove yourself against, but it’s a race a lot of riders from bigger teams target as one they can win.

“You look at the spread of our team, we have got a few older guys and a few younger guys with the chance to develop.

“I was always keen on that when I was younger, I wanted the chance to develop in cycling.

“I didn’t just want to go somewhere that was ‘do this, do that, do the other’. Everyone will get their chance.”