Hailing from the United Kingdom, Angus is a new face to the Development program, making the step up from the junior ranks. Honing his skills initially in the British racing scene in 2022, the 2023 campaign saw him take on more of an international calendar with his team where Angus shone, taking three wins throughout the year and impressive number of other top results.
Not from a cycling family as such, he played a wide variety of sports as a kid but would always find himself going for bike rides when visiting his mum’s native Scotland where Angus would do “random challenges for fun”.
An endurance athlete at heart, he combined running and cycling properly from around the age of 15 when he got a road bike and qualified for the duathlon world championships at his age level. Unfortunately, that event was cancelled due to Covid-19 so as a second year U17 rider he started to focus on road racing, before moving into the junior category swiftly after that.
“It’s all been quite quick, but I really enjoyed the switch to only cycling and I want to see how far I can go with it – and now I’m here in the team!”
Angus is also thankful for the competitive nature of the British junior cycling scene which he thinks has been a result of the “2012 Olympics generation” where he and a lot of his compatriots were inspired by watching the Games.
In the team he’ll find some familiar faces and he already knows a few of the other British guys on the squad but he’s equally looking forward to moving across to the Netherlands and spending his time at the Aqua-Step Keep Challenging Center, getting to know everyone else and “what they’re about.”
That set-up and the ability to train with and get to know his teammates on a more personal level is one of the reasons that attracted Angus to the team. Alongside that, the focus on development is something which is important to him too, and he values the long-term planning and goal setting in the team.
“I’m excited for just the general integration into the team with the guys and I’m looking forward to reaching new goals and pushing the limits, to see what we can achieve together.”
Describing himself as “ambitious”, “driven” and “grateful”, Angus’ later entry into the sport means that he takes nothing for granted and has his sights firmly set as high as they can be. Yet despite the clear intrinsic motivation, he also comes across as quite a laid-back person who doesn’t stress too much and “finds calm in the chaos” – something which he thinks can be helpful to the team in the often unpredictable and hectic U23 races.
Unsure of exactly what type of rider he is, Angus for the moment just enjoys “hard racing” and “anything that requires longer efforts”, which he thinks in a weirdly twisted way are “more fun”. Therefore, he is open to anything that the upcoming years will throw at him, although he jokes that maybe bunch sprinting “isn’t his strongest suit”.
When he’s not on the bike, you can probably still find Angus doing something in nature as he is definitely an “outdoorsy type” and someone who can’t stay inside, so maybe the Development program will have its very own Bear Grylls!