CYCLIST Jenny Holl may be on the verge of breaking into the big-time herself but despite being one of the brightest rising stars of the track, she admits that she still can barely contain her excitement at lining up against Olympic champions.
Round one of the Revolution Series last month saw her pit her wits against both Katie Archibald and Laura Trott, and tomorrow Holl will again be up against women’s team pursuit Olympic gold medallist Archibald when she competes in the Scottish leg of the Revolution Series, which takes place at Glasgow’s Sir Chris Hoy velodrome.
The 17-year-old admits that competing on home soil against such exalted company will make the experience all the more special.
“It’s just amazing to get the opportunity to race people like Katie Archibald and Laura Trott – I only did a few races with them last month but it’s so cool being up against them,” Holl says.
“It’s a little bit scary – Katie Archibald is pretty tall so she looks quite intimidating but what I really noticed was that it was just so fast, it’s a big step up from the youth races. It’s really good to be racing at home – Glasgow’s a great track so I’m looking forward to it.”
This is Holl’s first season in the senior ranks and she has negotiated the notoriously difficult step up from junior to senior remarkably smoothly.
An impressive showing at the first round of this season’s Revolution Series in Manchester last month saw her claim a handful of points in the points race but despite her strong performance, she admits that she is aware of just how steep the learning curve is.
“I was really pleased that I was able to take some points in round one last month although I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t take a lap,” she says. “I’d been hoping to do well but I have to remember that I’m up against Olympic champions so it’s obviously going to be tough.
“You can’t race the same way as you’d race against juniors because they’re so much faster so you have to adapt your tactics. It’s a huge learning experience for me but it was a big confidence boost that I was able to stick with them.”
Holl, from Stirling, has transformed herself over the past two years from something of a journeyman rider – she admits that she almost never made it onto the podium in any of her races a few years ago – to one of the most promising young riders in Britain.
After being accepted onto the lower rungs of the British Cycling programme, it didn’t take long for the increased support to impact on her performances.
In the past year-or-so, Holl has claimed both the British Youth Criterium and Scratch Race titles, as well as making regular podium appearances in last season’s HOY Future Stars competition in the Revolution Series.
Perhaps her most impressive result to date was her second place in the madison at the Junior World Track Cycling Championships this summer and with Holl crediting the support of British Cycling for much of her recent improvement, she admits that she cannot quite believe how lucky she is to be a part of one of the most lauded training regimes in the world.
“It’s amazing to be involved with British Cycling – it’s such a good atmosphere, everything is so organised and it’s just brilliant,” she says. “I feel so lucky to be part of the programme.
“The training camps and the coaches are great and my training is much more structured now. I feel under a little bit of pressure to perform but it’s such a good atmosphere that it’s not stressful. Of course, everyone wants to do well and to win but it doesn’t actually feel too high pressured.”
Holl also rides for the amateur team, Team Jadan-Weldtite and she is not the only Scot on their books.
Her teammate is her close friend, long-time rival and near neighbour in Stirling, Rhona Callander, and Holl realises that having another Scottish rider at a similarly high level to herself is hugely important for both their developments.
“It’s great that we’re both doing well – we’re good at different things so we push each other on,” she says. “When I began cycling, I wasn’t very good – I never won and Rhona won everything. But now we race each other in training which makes us both train harder but then we’ll also help each other out. And we raced against each other at the Scottish Crit Champs in the summer and we both went absolutely full-out because neither of us wanted to lose.”
With the 2018 Commonwealth Games less than 18 months away, things are looking good for the Scottish team’s prospects. Holl was a keen spectator at Glasgow 2014 and she knew then that in four years time, she wanted to be pulling on the Team Scotland Lycra herself.
“The Gold Coast is my main goal at the moment – I would absolutely love to go there,” she says.
“Qualifying will be really tough but I’d love to make the team. If I can’t do a home Games then Australia is the next best option, I reckon.”
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