For the first few years of Cameron Mason’s elite cycling career, he was entirely undecided as to where his truest potential lay.
Throughout his teens, the Linlithgow rider tried his hand at mountain biking, cyclocross, gravel and road racing and having achieved a degree of success in each of them, it wasn’t easy to identify his speciality.
In recent years, however, any doubt as to which discipline Mason really excels have dissipated completely.
Earlier this month, he won his third consecutive British Cyclocross title in dominant fashion.
It was just the latest result in what’s becoming a truly formidable cyclocross resumé.
His national titles are accompanied by a raft of World Cup top 10 finishes, plus European Championships silver.
In addition to these honours, he was part of the British squad that won world team silver last year but individual silverware at the World Championships has, so far, proven to be out of his reach.
That’s something he’s hoping to correct this weekend.
Mason is one of two Scots in the British team - Arabella Blackburn is in the junior squad - for this year’s World Cyclocross Championships, which begin in the French city of Liévin today. And despite Mason’s insistance that he’s focussing on his performance rather than silverware, given his recent form, there’s every chance the 24-year-old can add to his collection the major medal that’s so far eluded him.
“I’m feeling good - the difference between where I was 12 months ago and now is quite stark so it’s nice to be on-the-up going into Worlds.
“This Worlds is a very open race and everyone is on the start line with the same chance of a medal so if I can get everything in order, I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do,” says Mason, who’s best World Championship result to date is ninth place in 2023.
“I try not to think about medals, though - it doesn’t help me. I’m not massively motivated by results, I’m more motivated by maximising my performance and that’ll definitely be the case this weekend.”
The French weather is forecast to be somewhat drier than Mason would perhaps like but he’s confident that whatever the terrain, he has the skills to cope regardless.
“I do like it when it’s super-muddy, technical and heavy-going,” he says.
“When it gets really tricky with rain and tough conditions, that’s when I kick into gear. My technical level's pretty high so I'll be hoping for some difficult conditions.
“But I’ve shown that, if I'm on a good day, I can deal with anything so I’m confident I can get a strong result whatever the conditions.”
Cyclocross remains one of the least well-known cycling events and if there’s one thing that’s misunderstood about this discipline, it’s how much of a full-body workout each outing is.
Being able to cope with both the physical and mental challenges presented by every cyclocross race is a unique skill but it’s one that, as each season passes, Mason is progressively becoming better-equipped to deal with.
“In cyclocross, you’ve got to extract absolutely everything from yourself,” he says.
“Everyone suffers a lot so you need to be able to cope with that and mentally, you have to be ready to dig really deep.
“Cyclocross is a full body sport - we’re punching out of corners 30, 40 times a lap for a full hour, so the physical demands are really high and there’s also the tactical side of things - you need to be switched-on mentally for the entire race. It takes a lot of preparation to be ready for that.”
Despite his success on the international scene, Mason remains something of an unknown quantity outwith the cycling world and he admits it has crossed his mind that if he’d reached a similar world-class level on the track or road, he’d likely be considerably higher-profile, as well as better-off financially.
But Mason, who rides for Alpecin-Deceuninck Cycling Team, is happy with his choice to pursue a cyclocross career and given there’s rumours of a potential spot on the Olympic programme sometime soon, the Scot is well aware the impact this would have on the sport.
“Off-road cycling is still quite a niche sport and cyclocross is another level of niche within that. So it is interesting to think if I was getting these results on the track or road, my job probably would be easier, or at least different,” he says.
“The Olympics is a big part of any sport becoming mainstream and it’s looking like cyclocross will become a Winter Olympic sport in the next five or ten years so that'll change massively how it’s viewed by the public.
“If we can have Olympic medals on offer in cyclocross soon, that’ll be huge for the sport.”
