Winning April’s Scottish Downhill Association (SDA) Series race in Pitfichie in Aberdeenshire has bolstered Strathkinnes teenager, Joe Connell’s belief that he can make a serious attempt at winning both the Scottish and British Series this year.

The 16-year-old won the Youth category by five seconds.  Had he raced in the older Junior age group in the same time, he would have won that by a full second too.

“I won one of the winter races earlier this year but this is my first SDA win,” said Joe.   “Last year was my first time in the Youth category and I was getting to grips with it.  I’m pleased with the way my training and racing has been going this season.

“On Sunday the middle of the course was really technical and the bottom was really pedally.  But I managed to hit all my lines really well in the middle, and at the bottom pedal as fast as I could and put all my gym work to good use.”

Joe is referring to the Strength & Conditioning training he has been working on with the Tayside & Fife Institute of Sport (TFIS), which has supported him for the past two seasons. 

Part of sportscotland’s institute of sport area network, the TFIS focuses on preparing Scotland’s best athletes to perform on the world stage by providing high performance expertise to sport and athletes in Scotland. 

“I’m doing anything I can to make myself faster and the Institute’s help is massive,” said Joe, part of Scottish Cycling’s Downhill / BMX programme, and sponsored by Alpine Bikes and Fox Europe. 

”The Strength & Conditioning training has made a huge difference even though I’ve only been doing it for four weeks.  I can already notice a huge difference in pedalling power and how much more energy I have when I get to the bottom of the track.”

The Institute’s nutritional advice, which he has benefitted from since last year, came into its own on the weekend. As a result of the course’s uplift service not operating, competitors had to push their bikes for almost an hour uphill for the start of each race.
 
“I was eating really healthily before but the Institute has narrowed down things, like the quantities and the most important things I should be eating.  It was a big help at the weekend because it was really hot and I needed to drink loads and loads of water. 

Joe has been keen on the sport since he was still in nappies.  He can remember the exact moment, aged just two and a half, when the stabilisers came off and he rolled freely down his first hill.  He was 12 when he raced for the first time, and came second, at the Laggan Wolftrax.  The same year he watched the Fort William World Cup.  By then he was truly hooked. 

With the downhill mountain biking season well under way Joe is clear about where he wants to go.

“It’s a big aim, but I want to get the win the Scottish and British series overall.” 

And ultimately his aim is simply “to be the best rider in the World Cup circuit”.

RE-J

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Images courtesy of Ted Leeming, Oliver Coats and Rob Eyton-Jones.