It’s hardly surprising, given the speed of Eilidh Shaw’s rise, that’s she’s still catching her breath.
Just over a year ago, the 19-year-old was a complete unknown outwith the cycling world.
She sat out most of 2023 due to a medical condition but ended last season with a flourish, winning both the Scottish road race and Scottish circuit race championships. Despite those titles, however, few predicted Shaw to be such a breakout star this season.
But having had the year of her life in 2024, Shaw’s preparing for everything to change.
Just a few weeks ago, Shaw became a professional bike rider.
The Airdrie teenager signed with UAE Team ADQ, a professional cycling team which originated in the UAE.
The step forward this represents for Shaw cannot be overstated but it’s just reward following such an outstanding season, with Shaw now joining a select group of Scottish women who have ever been able to call themselves professional road riders. And given she’s only been taking the sport seriously for a relatively short period of time, her rise, admits Shaw, still feels entirely surreal.
“It’s so funny to be looked up to as someone who’s managed to get to this level – I’m just a normal girl from Airdrie,” she says.
“When I was younger, I did every sport but I ran out of time to be able to do them all and cycling was the one I enjoyed the most so that’s why, when I was 13 or 14, I started to take cycling more seriously.
“When I was younger, I was just the fifth or sixth best and it’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve begun to get some decent results.
“So to now be pro rider is completely surreal.”
It was a run of form that even Shaw herself failed to see coming given her challenges in 2023; having been suffering from the medical conditioniliac artery endofibrosis, which narrows an individual’s arteries and restricts blood flow, her racing was severely restricted.
An operation to resolve the issue was a success but Shaw admits she was entirely unsure as to how effectively she would be able to return to cycling.
But as soon as the 2024 season began, her fears were allayed. Strong rides in her first competitive appearances of the season gave her the boost she needed to propel her to the season of her life and it was her consistently good performances that persuaded UAE Team ADQ to ask Shaw to put pen to paper.
“I actually started speaking to the UAE Team right at the start of this season so it really helped my confidence having some good rides early in the year because I knew they were watching,” she says.
“Then mid-way through the season, the team manager got in touch and things started to fall into place.
“So to actually sign felt incredible.”
Shaw’s rise into the professional ranks is not only a testament to her own ability, but also the role Alba Road Team has played.
Formed three years ago by Bob Lyons, the goal of the team is to develop primarily Scottish ridersto a point where they're able to make the step up to becoming fully professional riders.
That Shaw has done this is proof Alba is invaluable to cycling in this country and the teenager is effusive in her praise for the role the team has played in her development.
“It’s been amazing to be a part of Alba and it being a Scottish team makes it even more special,” she says.
“I believe that Alba provides the best support in the UK and it gives its riders so many racing opportunities not just in the UK but also abroad. That’s what helps you move onto bigger and better things and it’s certainly what’s helped me.”
Shaw is preparing to relocate to Girona in Spain, where her new team is based, in the new year and is currently struggling her way through Duolingo as she attempts to improve what she describes as her non-existent Spanish.
Her first season as a pro is likely to be a steep learning curve but it will, hopes Shaw, be the first of many in the professional peloton.
“I always wanted to be at this point at some stage in my career but I never expected it to happen so quickly so I feel so lucky to be preparing to ride professionally at this age,” she says.
“My first target is just to have a long career – I want to be doing this for as long as possible. And there’s races I grew up watching like the Tour of Flanders that I’d love to ride sometime – that would be unbelievable.”
