'Be realistic, don’t dismiss America as an option' – meet the British rider who crossed the pond for cycling development

“It feels kind of weird to say my first national title is an American one as someone who’s British,” Tom Scott tells Cycling Weekly.

The 21-year-old Sheffielder was first off in Marian University’s four-rider cyclo-cross relay-winning collegiate team in Arizona last month. How did he end up across the pond with a stars and stripes jersey? An idle Google search.

“I found a USA Cycling page that has all the colleges and universities that have a cycling programme,” he says. “I started scouring through results and previous collegiate national champs and found which teams were finishing higher up. I sent out a load of emails and ended up choosing Marian.”

Studying exercise science as his major, Scott spends most mornings and some afternoons in class before going training. A scholarship with the Indianapolis-based university helps with the cost, which Scott says is similar to British higher education. “It weighed up to: if cycling never ends up being [a career], I went and lived in the US for four years and got to see a different culture, meet new people and make new connections,” he says of the decision. “That part alone is almost worth it.” Scott has made the most of campus life in Indianapolis, attending the city’s famous Indy 500 car race.

Since starting at Marian as a freshman in August 2023, the versatile Yorkshireman has raced criteriums, mountain biking, cyclo-cross and on the road in a programme which balances enjoyment with performance. “It’s pretty legit. It's a lot higher competition level than I expected,” Scott says.

“My power has increased and my tactical awareness in races has improved since I’ve been here. I’ve still been training as much as a lot of people would – maybe not the WorldTour boys, but cycling isn’t my full-time job. Marian has great facilities: a huge indoor training room for the winter, a velodrome, a BMX track and mountain bike trails out in the woods.”

Racing cyclo-cross since his youth, the winter discipline is Scott’s forté. His results in American races have steadily improved, culminating with second place in October’s Major Taylor Cross Cup, a UCI-ranked C2 event, and third in the C1-rated King’s Day CX. “It came down to three of us on the final lap and I made a tiny error,” he recalls. “I’m still really happy to get on podiums at UCI races.”

Compared to British National Trophy cyclo-cross, Scott believes American races have a little more depth and competitiveness to the field: “The only critique I’d have is that it’s never really muddy. Dry, hot and dusty.”

Still, there is a quantum leap between the USA and Belgium, the home of cyclo-cross. Scott raced there three times after the Christmas break and has competed against the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert in the past, happy for the “personal win” of staying on the same lap as the Visma-Lease a Bike superstar at Gullegem last January.

Twelve months ago, he was disqualified from the British National Cyclo-cross Championships after racing for Marian University, a club not affiliated with British Cycling. “I crossed the line third under-23 and fourth overall. I was pretty gutted: that was my best result ever and I was going to get a medal,” he says. “But rules are rules.”

Born in 2004, Scott has been inspired by the ascent to the WorldTour of former junior rivals Josh Tarling, Joe Blackmore and friend Bjorn Koerdt. “I’m not on their level but they’ve done it and there’s a chance that I might be able to,” he says. “For now, I’m just taking a slightly different path, enjoying it and getting a degree at the same time.”

Scott will have another year at Marian before graduation, affording him time to decide whether bike racing is a viable career or an enjoyable hobby.

Already though, he has few regrets about making the bold move to study in Indianapolis. “Be realistic, think about your goals and don’t dismiss America as an option,” is his advice for teenage cycling talents. “You can definitely still go pro [afterwards]. The collegiate scene is massive.”