
Capital ace Sean saddles up for Tour de France
The 25-year-old former Scotland Commonwealth Games rep first became attracted to the sport from watching some downhill mountain biking and joined Edinburgh Road Club aged around 10. Ever since accolades have flowed for an individual noted for multi discipline performances on two wheels.
For example in 2016 Sean won British youth titles on road and mountain bike and a year later was national junior cyclo cross champion.
In 2018 he struck bronze in the team event at the Youth Olympics.
Perhaps his best year so far, however, came in 2023. Having successfully transitioned to the pro ranks Sean won a stage of the Vuelta Espana but there is no doubt Sean will want to impress team bosses over the next three weeks with the Tour starting in Edinburgh in 2027.
'I love the variations in races and the tactics, the options that gives you and the team to be able to do well, by being smart and working well together' he says, adding 'for the racing I really like the team aspect and that really drew me in as I'm a sociable person.'
Making the step up from the under-23 ranks to the elite peloton comes with its challenges, setbacks, and hard moments but Sean is aware of what still lies ahead of him, and he's excited for everything that being a professional cyclist encompasses.
'It's all the start of the next step, it's not like I've made it yet. I know it's going to be hard but I'm really looking forward to it, getting stuck in and working hard so that hopefully I can make it all the way to the top.'
Joining Sean on the eight rider Team Picnic Post NL rota will be Kelso's Oscar Onley who surpassed himself by winning a stage of the Tour of Switzerland three weeks ago and finishing third overall.
One source close to the pro cycling scene said: 'Sean will probably be riding for the other team members but is capable of doing well if he gets into a breakaway on a stage.'
Piuro – Suisse – cycling – cyclisme – radsport – wielrennen – Van Den Broek Frank (NED / Team Picnic PostNL) pictured during Tour de Suisse 2025 stage 4 from Heiden to Piuro (Valchiavenna) (193.2km) 18/06/2025 – Photo: Vincent Kalut/PN/Cor Vos © 2025
Like this:
Like
Related
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Metro
31 minutes ago
- Metro
Max Verstappen laughs at British F1 star's huge Silverstone crash
Max Verstappen could not believe his eyes as he watched Ollie Bearman's bizarre pit-lane crash during British Grand Prix practice. Formula 1 is at Silverstone this weekend where Lando Norris has the chance to overtake McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the championship battle in front of his home fans. But Ferrari are looking very quick, with Sir Lewis Hamilton fastest in first practice on Friday while Charles Leclerc topped third practice on Saturday ahead of qualifying. However, final practice finished in peculiar fashion after Gabriel Bortoleto spun off in the final few minutes and badly damaged his Sauber, bringing out the red flag. As drivers headed back to the pits, British star Bearman accelerated rapidly as he got to the pit-lane entrance before slamming on the brakes – perhaps trying to simulate race conditions. However, this caused his Haas to spin and slam into the barriers at high-speed. Thankfully, the 20-year-old was unhurt and was able to nurse his car, minus the front wing, back to the garage. Verstappen was directly behind the rookie with a clear view of the crash and was left completely baffled by the shunt. 'Oh my god! Someone just crashed in the pit entrance! Haha, what?!' the four-time champion said over the team radio as he drove past the debris. '**** idiot, my brakes were cold. ****, sorry,' Bearman said on the radio in the immediate aftermath. The stewards took a dim view of the rookie's shunt, slapping him with a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race, meaning Bearman will almost certainly start his first home grand prix from last place. 'Car 87 had slowed down for the red flag and as he was approaching Turn 15 accelerated significantly to race pace and entered the pit entry road at 260kph,' the steward's verdict read. 'He lost control of the car in the pit entry road and crashed into the barriers. Art. 37.6 (a) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations and Art. 2.5.4.1(b) of Appendix H of the International Sporting Code require that when a red flag is shown 'all cars must immediately reduce speed and proceed slowly back to the pit lane'. More Trending 'It is beyond doubt that the driver of 'Car 87 did not proceed slowly back to the pit lane when he accelerated to simulate entering into the pit entry road under race conditions. 'In fact, we looked at a previous in-lap under normal racing conditions and found that he was faster in this lap, under a red flag. To make matters worse, he lost control of the car and crashed into the barriers while at speed. 'The driver informed us that he misjudged the fact that his brakes were not warm because the lap was done slowly, due to the red flag. While this may have been a factor contributing to the crash, we did not consider it to be a mitigating factor.' Ahead of the British Grand Prix, Bearman is 18th in the standings with six points from the opening 11 races. For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Red Arrows flight path this weekend ahead of Swansea Airshow and Silverstone flypast MORE: What Max Verstappen told 'f****** idiot' Kimi Antonelli after Austrian Grand Prix crash MORE: Max Verstappen reveals why he snubbed Lewis Hamilton and Brad Pitt's F1 movie


Glasgow Times
36 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Sonay Kartal eyes Wimbledon quarter-final berth – and British number one ranking
Kartal is the only British woman left in the singles draw after Emma Raducanu's brave defeat by top seed Aryna Sabalenka on Friday night. Should she beat Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 23-year-old will become the first home female player to reach the last eight since Johanna Konta in 2019. Kartal beat Diane Parry on Friday (Mike Egerton/PA) The Brighton pro will also overtake Raducanu and Katie Boulter to become the country's top-ranked woman. That was unthinkable a year ago, when Kartal was ranked 298, and frankly still unlikely a week ago. But Kartal has shown remarkable resilience and intensity to go with her immense talent in victories over Jelena Ostapenko – the 20th seed – Viktoriya Tomova and Diane Parry. 'The drive comes from myself,' she said. 'I'm super disciplined. I'm super determined. When I set my mind to something, I want to achieve it. Loving your support at @Wimbledon 🍓 Sonay Kartal has a message for you! — LTA (@the_LTA) July 4, 2025 'I want to prove to myself that I can do it, as well. I'd say the drive is 100 per cent me.' Kartal made her Wimbledon breakthrough last year, reaching the third round before bowing out to Coco Gauff, and has made superb progress ever since. She felt like she had really arrived on the WTA Tour after picking up a win over a top-20 player, against Beatriz Haddad Maia, at Indian Wells in March. 'Definitely this week,' she added. 'But I would say maybe really Indian Wells for me. I felt like I had good matches, had my first top-20 win there. Kartal faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last eight (John Walton/PA) 'I think even though I maybe haven't backed the results up as much as I would like to prior to this, on the clay as well, I felt like I'd go one or two rounds, then lose the round. 'I still felt like in the matches I won and lost, the ones I lost I felt like I was improving. I felt like the margins I lost by in each match I was making smaller. 'I think it is an accumulation. Definitely this week will help me massively moving forwards.'


The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Convergent seeking German Derby glory for Burke
The lightly-raced Convergent heads across Europe with leading claims, having confirmed the promise of a couple of low-key wins at Redcar by finishing third behind subsequent dual Derby winner Lambourn and the Epsom runner-up and Curragh third Lazy Griff in the Chester Vase in May. Burke said: 'I'm looking forward to seeing him run. He's a progressive horse, we think he's a really nice horse with a big future in front of him, so hopefully he can prove that on Sunday. 'We missed Royal Ascot because of the ground – he'd have gone there if it had been a bit slower ground. They say the ground is beautiful in Hamburg with a lovely covering of grass and we've got a reasonable draw (stall seven), so all things being equal he should run a big race.' Reflecting on his Chester performance, the trainer added: 'It wasn't the plan to make the running there, I know making the running can help at Chester but he's a big, raw horse and because nothing wanted to go forward we ended up in front. 'I wouldn't say it was a huge disadvantage, but he'll be a better horse with a lead and I think we'd have finished closer again if we'd been tracking them rather than them tracking us.' Convergent is the sole British raider in a field of 18 runners.