Interview: Scott Davies (7th Junior Worlds)

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A name to look for in 2014 will Scott Davies who had a stellar year racing internationally as a Junior for Great Britain

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There are many reasons why the 2014 road season in Britain promises to be an exciting one. New teams and new faces in the peloton including a first year senior who was 7th in the Junior World Road Race Championship in Florence, Scott Davies.

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The Welsh rider from Carmarthen in South Wales spent a few years riding for the GB Olympic Development Programme for Junior riders but did not make it onto the 2014 intake of the GB Academy.  That, he says is not a bad thing as he wants to concentrate on the road whereas the GB programme has a strong track element.

Scott is a climber and very good roadman and whilst he rides the track, indeed we spoke to him at the last Revolution meeting, his forte is the road. As well as that result in the Worlds, he won the Junior Tour of Wales, the first homegrown winner of the Junior NFTO Tour of Wales stage race, ending a 34-year wait for a Welsh champion in the race.

Davies pulled on the race leader’s yellow jersey on the first stage and kept it for another four over three days to win the race ahead of Holland’s Sam Oomen. Scott was also second in the Giro Internazionale della Lunigiana in Italy this year and won the British TT title in 2012 for Juniors.  Another serious talent from Wales.

No surprise then when he says “the road will be my focus next season. I feel I will be better off with a domestic team than the academy. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have got onto the Acacdemy, but their track programme doesn’t suit me as much as a road programme.”

Scott will ride for one of Britain’s top pro teams which has yet to announce its line up and he explained “I was in two minds whether to stay here or go abroad but I spoke to a few people who advised me to stay in the UK for a year and find my feet before going abroad.”

“I have been told its going to be a big jump so I don’t expect to have as good a season as I did this year. As long as I can keep progressing is all I can ask for.”

Scott realises though looking at other first year Juniors who have made their mark in the Junior ranks and made the step up that he can still get stuck into the pro racing here in Britain like others have such as Alex Peters who for me, has been a revelation in the British pro scene.

Asked for a highlight from the 2013 season, Scott says it’s hard to choose between two; winning the NFTO Tour of Wales and the Worlds. “The Worlds was a really nice way to finish off my year and I didn’t expect that as we were riding for Tao and he had a mechanical (broken chain). I was gutted for him as he was on form.”

“I stayed in the wheels and tried to recover as much as I could which proved quite challenging with the circuit being as lumpy as it was without any real respite.” Despite cramping in one of his longest races of the year, and being dropped on the tough climbs, Scott showed what a fighter he is and jumped from rider to rider, group to group to finish 7th.

His win though in the NFTO Tour of Wales was really special as well. “I have had more comments made to me about that than my ride in the Worlds” he explained showing just what these British classics mean to the fans here.

All this success was on a British designed bike as well, a Dolan bike by the famed builder, Terry Dolan. Scott explains that he spoke to Terry Dolan after he was let down by another sponsor and they were really helpful and looked after Scott all year.

Scott, sitting on a custom Dolan track bike he was racing at the last Revolution, is full of praise of the Dolan bikes he has ridden in the biggest Junior races in the World. “I have had two bikes from Terry this year” Scott explains.

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“Both are Ares SL. I got one at the start of the year in AN Post colours and that was really nice and then before the Worlds, they sent me a matt black one with SRAM Red and that was really nice! I have ridden some nice bikes in the past but nothing tops the Dolans.”

“The bikes proved to be tough as well. The first one withstood the Roubaix cobbles and I’ve had a few crashes on it and it’s still going strong. I still have the bike at home. There are other things like at Roubaix, I managed to fit 28mm tubs in the frame and not all bikes can do that. It’s a great all round bike that’s very versatile. I am quite sad I won’t be riding it next year”.

Looking ahead, Scott says that one of his goals in 2014 is try and get a place in the Welsh road team for the Commonwealth Games. With so many top Welsh riders racing now, he knows it won’t be easy but that is the goal. After that, he’d like to follow in the wheelmarks of riders such as Luke Rowe and the Yates brothers who have all shown that young British riders are good enough to race in the  top teams in the Worlds.

Thanks to Scott for the chat and good luck to him next season.

 

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