OF all the medals won by Scottish athletes at last summer’s Commonwealth Games, one of the most surprising, to outsiders at least, was Finn Crockett’s bronze in the men’s road race.
Recent years have not seen this country produce any truly world class road racers and so Crockett’s third place in Birmingham, beating the likes of Tour de France winner, Geraint Thomas, came as something of a surprise to many.
However, for Crockett, it was a result that he believed had been brewing for quite some time, and he is confident he’s going to use his podium spot at Birmingham 2022 to catapult him onto bigger and better things in 2023.
“It’s been good to reflect on 2022 and looking back, it was a huge breakout year for me,” he says.
“I’d been working away for four or five years towards these bigger goals and so I hoped something like that was on the cards but to actually achieve what I did, it was great. It was a bit beyond expectations but I had hoped something like that was in my locker.”
Since winning that Commonwealth medal, something Crockett admits has drawn attention far further afield than he has been used to, the 23-year-old has benefited from a significant boost in his confidence.
The countless variables within road racing mean performing when it really matters is incalculably tricky and so with Crockett having done it against such a high calibre field, coupled with his results in the lead-up to Birmingham 2022, has provided a boost in self-belief that will, he is certain, be put to good use in the coming months.
“This year was a big step up for me in terms of confidence - I had a really good start to 2022 and that really set the tone for the rest of the year,” he says.
“Results like the one in Birmingham are so important – a lot of the time, in this sport, you’re training on your own in the Scottish weather which can be pretty awful so it’s nice for it to pay off.
“It is a lot about belief and then you never know what can happen. A lot of the time, it doesn’t work out on the day but in Birmingham, it did.”
Crockett will need every weapon possible in his armoury in 2023.
The news that Ribble-Weldtite, the UCI Pro Continental team he spent the 2022 season with, was coming to an end threw Crockett into a state of uncertainty about his future.
However, the Strathpeffer native, who is now based in Stirling, was quickly snapped up by British professional team, WiV SunGod, providing not only much-needed stability but also the opportunity to test himself against a higher level of riders over the coming year.
Having his future secured was, he admits, a welcome relief following the folding of Ribble and, having had such success in 2022, he is determined to continue his progress this season.
“Cycling is a pretty fickle sport – things can change pretty much every other day and it just so happened that Ribble ended. It’s a real shame and it’s sad,” he says.
“Getting another team so quickly was a big thing – the uncertainly is always a bit scary but things have worked out and I’m looking forward to 2023.
“It’s going to be a good step up for me and hopefully I can build on 2022 and get some bigger results.
“You learn on the go a lot of the time in this sport but really, bike racing is bike racing. 2023 will be a step up for me and I’ll be racing at a higher level but I think building on 2022, it should come quite naturally.”
Crockett has no intentions of halting at the Pro Continental level; rather, he has his sights set on the very top tier of road racing.
Along with his coach, former elite cyclist James McCallum, the pair are determined to do something about the dearth of top-level riders who have originated from these shores in recent years.
The Grand Tours, or the lauded Classics are very much in Crockett’s sights, and soon.
“James is very much at the forefront of developing Scottish cyclists – I’ve worked with him for four or five years and I really trust him,” Crockett says of the man who’s masterminding his rise.
“It comes back to self-belief and I’m definitely wanting to make that step up whether that be riding Grand Tours or riding a Classic, these are goals that I’d definitely like to achieve.
“So, with the help of the team I’ve got around me, hopefully that’ll come in the next two or three years.”
