Guernsey Velo Club racers shine at Southern XC MTB Round 1
Sixteen Guernsey Velo Club riders travelled last weekend to the UK for Round One of the 2026 Southern XC Series held at Matterley Basin, Winchester. which has a long history of hosting XC races.
The venue has a long histiory of hosting XC races and the 3.8km course made up of open fire roads, fast single-tracks and short sharp hill climbs remains popluar with the riders. The fast, flat, rooty, twisting woodland sections would keep the riders on their toes. Easy to ride, but hard to ride fast. One mistake and you'll lose a vital second. This course would see the riders always on the gas providing close racing all the way through the categories.
The popular Men’s Sport class would see six GVC riders competing, James Shorto, Mark Smith, Dan Johnson, Tristan Robilliard, Wayne Piercey and Tony Manning. Despite dropping a chain on lap two, James Shorto was the pick of the bunch finishing 39th of 75 riders. Mark Smith continued his good run of form finishing in 44th with the remaining riders all finishing well with respectable times and placings.
Moving up from the U10s, Hugo Johnson faced a competitive field of twenty four riders in the U12 category. After a strong start that put him in sixth place by the end of lap one, Hugo's consistent pace allowed him to climb as high as third. Despite losing some ground to the leaders late in the race, he maintained his composure to secure an impressive third place finish overall.
In a shortened race over fifteen minutes, Ethan Shorto faced a massive field of thirty eight riders! Despite this he held his own at the front for the first six laps and, despite falling back slightly toward the end, delivered a brilliant performance to secure 3rd place overall and a spot on the podium.
The Juvenile Boys (13-14) would see Utmost & Ian Brown’s Academy riders, Luka Robilliard, Jacob Piercey and Arun Scales riding the track. Luka Robilliard made an excellent start to come over the start/finish line in second place after lap one. His next three laps were consistent in the mid 11’s which earned him an excellent third place overall, just ten seconds behind second. Jacob Piercey and Arun Scales, both competing in their first Juvenile race, also started well with 12-minute opening laps. Both riders held their own in this high-energy field to finish 11th and 14th respectively.
In the Female Youth race, Utmost & Ian Brown’s Academy riders Holly and Amy Smith faced a tough challenge against some of the South West’s top talent, showing impressive grit and determination throughout their four-lap battle, they secured solid 8th and 9th place finishes.
In the Youth Class, Utmost & Ian Brown’s Academy rider Zach Smith carried Guernsey’s final hopes for a podium finish. He grabbed an early lead, closely shadowed by Ollie Smith, with the pair completing the first lap in a swift 9:24. They remained wheel-to-wheel over the next three laps with Ollie using his huge leavers to outsprint Zach, clinching the win by just five seconds. It was a stellar performance from Zach, earning another podium for Guernsey Velo Club.
GVC Club member Rod Smith commented; “The hard winter training is paying off at all levels. Fantastic Academy results and once again great to see the Guernsey riders out in force at these events”.
The next off-island competition will be the 1st round of British Cycling’s National MTB series being held this weekend at Newnham Park in Plymouth with Zach Smith competing in both the Short track XCC and longer XC race.
Report by Roon Smith
