Corran Carrick-Anderson

Twenty-one-year-old Scot Corran Carrick-Anderson, who is the current British U23 cyclo-cross national champion, is following the Tom Pidcock route to success.

- Simon Smythe

The week: 1-7 January 2024

Location: Scotland and Spain

Training for: Cyclo-cross World Champs (4 Feb)

PROFILE 

Age: 21

Height: 5ft 10in FTP: 350-360W (estimated)

Lives: Peebles, Scottish Borders

Team: British Cycling

Best results: 18th U23 – MTB World Championships (2023); 1st U23 – UK National CX Championships (2024)

Coming from a mountain bike background, Carrick-Anderson is a former junior national cross-country (XCO) champion. In his first year in cyclo-cross as an under-23, he won the 2021/22 National Trophy series in the elite category as well as his age category. He rode the Tour of Rwanda on the road in 2023 with a Great Britain team and, despite his preference for knobbly tyres, does much of his training on the smooth ones during the winter. The multi-talented rider spoke to us just a few days before the World CX Champs, where he finished 25th in the U23 race.

How has your cross-season been so far?

The Nationals on 13 January were my first cross race of the year, and that went quite well [he was U23 winner and fourth elite] so I’m hoping I’m still getting better with each race and each session I do towards it.

What else have you been doing?

I raced the Hoogerheide World Cup on Sunday (28 Jan) and finished 14th in my category. It was a bit of a step up from the Nationals; I was still a little rusty for cross but hopefully that opened me up for this weekend [the Worlds].

What’s the split at the top level of cyclo-cross between roadies and mountain bikers?