Eilidh Shaw is on her solution to the highest of biking aged simply 19. In 2024, her first full 12 months as an elite bike owner, she turned the primary lady to win each the Nationwide Highway Collection and Nationwide Circuit Collection – making her the clearcut selection for Biking Weekly’s home rider of the 12 months.
The Scot now strikes to the UAE Improvement Group, placing her on the ladder to the total UAE Group ADQ Girls’s WorldTour squad. “It feels virtually like a dream, it’s what I’ve at all times needed,” Shaw defined by video name from her dwelling simply exterior Glasgow. “It’s what I’ve at all times labored for since I began out racing, and now I’m tremendous excited to get on with it.”
How did the transfer to UAE come about? “They reached out to me by means of social media close to the start of the 12 months, after which they type of saved tabs on me by means of the season,” she tells Biking Weekly from her dwelling in Airdrie, Scotland. “It wasn’t till possibly June or July once I acquired in contact with the group’s supervisor, after which issues progressed from there.”
The group’s curiosity might have been piqued by Shaw’s second place on the Girls’s CiCLE Traditional in March, a race she enjoys for its brutal nature. It was an indication of issues to come back: she adopted up with fifteenth on the Antwerp Port Epic, a UCI 1.1 race, then eleventh total, together with three top-fives, on the Czech Tour de Feminin, a 2.2 occasion.
“I assume my first podium in a UCI race on the Czech Tour was the spotlight,” she defined. “I believe that basically acquired me observed by UAE this 12 months. My favorite race, although, was the Antwerp Port Epic, which is a bit like Paris-Roubaix, with 60km of cobbles in a 140km race. It was simply completely loopy.”
Her enjoyment of Antwerp and the cobbles might betray the type of rider Shaw desires to be, although it’s far too early to classify her. “I take pleasure in Classics driving, however I don’t assume I’ve had sufficient expertise within the longer hilly races to know if I’d be good at that.”
Her dream is to experience the Tour of Flanders. “I’ve finished the sportive earlier than with my dad,” she defined. “We used to go yearly and watch the race, then do the sportive. To compete within the race could be the dream. It’s brutal, particularly when it’s moist; the climbs get so technical, however I really like that, it might be wonderful to experience.”
Main mild
In mid-April, she completed second behind Cat Ferguson, our rider of the 12 months, on the East Cleveland Traditional to maneuver into the chief’s jersey within the Nationwide Highway Collection. She additionally received the Guilford and Dudley Grands Prix, earlier than securing top-fives within the Sheffield, Fort Vale Colne, Beverley and Ryedale GPs, in addition to a top-10 in Lancaster. All of this contributed to her successful the Nationwide Highway Collection and the Nationwide Circuit Collection.
Her British spotlight was that second place on the CiCle Traditional, which proved that she had the shape to go onto higher issues. “I believe this 12 months has proven that larger groups are wanting over right here, and it’s getting higher,” Shaw stated. “You continue to should go and show your self in Europe, however they positively have a watch on the home scene too.”
Her many successes this 12 months are a stark enchancment on her troublesome 2023, which noticed Shaw spend a very long time off the bike with iliac artery endofibrosis, a situation not unusual amongst elite riders however with which she was recognized unusually younger. “I used to be discovering myself unable to complete junior races,” she defined.
“We went to see a specialist in Bristol, did some scans, and it turned out I had [iliac artery endofibrosis]. It took some time to resolve to have surgical procedure, as a result of it’s fairly a giant deal. However I wouldn’t have gotten to this stage if I hadn’t – afterwards I felt like a brand new rider.”
Her home squad, Alba Improvement Highway Group, has been “like a household”, Shaw defined. She has been guided by the group’s DS, Scottish former WorldTour rider Anna Shackley, who was pressured to retire aged 23 as a consequence of a coronary heart situation. “[Anna] has been in our ears all through races this 12 months,” Shaw stated. “She has a lot expertise, and he or she’s very relatable too, as a result of she’s been there earlier than. It has been good.”
Armed with every part she has discovered on the UK scene, and from Shackley, Shaw is able to step up. The WorldTour beckons, and who is aware of, possibly her Tour of Flanders dream will come true before she dared think about.
