From beginner to World Cup racer, Grace Inglis interview.

A super fast Innerleithen local, you’ll often see Grace whipping up the Golife road, or linking up big rides on her Juliana Wilder. With a string of national podiums and wins behind her, she’s now trying to make the giant leap to world cup XCO racing entering her first world level races this summer. For someone who only started mountain biking in 2021 that’s an almost unheard of progression! Still on a privateer setup (we’re very happy to be giving some support from both Tweed Valley Bikes and Dirt School) it’s a big task to try and compete with the top teams, and we caught up with her recently after the summer race block to get the story on how it went and what led to here. 

How did you get into cycling originally and then what led to cross country racing?

I started out doing a bit of road and track cycling whilst at university; not taking it too seriously, just enjoying the social aspect of it. It wasn’t until a few years later, in 2021 that I started mountain biking. My partner, Joe, was really into mountain biking so when we moved in together that year I was keen to give it a go and bought a trail bike. I didn’t really think about racing at all to begin with and just enjoyed getting out and riding. I’m really glad I had that time just enjoying it and progressing because I don’t think my skills would have been up to jumping straight into the race environment.

I’ve always been quite competitive and used to enjoy going out and smashing up every climb for a whole ride (then crawling back home completely empty), so XC racing seemed like something I could be into. I gave it a go in 2022 and had a surprise 4th place finish in the national championships that year. I realised that maybe if I did a bit of structured training I might actually be quite good at XC racing!

You’ve come a very long way in racing in a very short amount of time, it clearly suits you. What is it about racing over just riding that appeals?

I really enjoy pushing myself, whether that’s in training or racing. Like I said, even before I was training my rides would consist of going out and going hard for the full ride, trying to beat my own times up climbs and going for strava segments, so pushing myself in races just feels natural. But I also really enjoy the technical side of riding and going out and working on skills and trying to get faster that way too. It’s really cool that there are those two sides to XC racing and it keeps the training fun.  

At what point did you think world cups might be a possibility? What was the motivation to give them a shot?

I first started thinking about doing a world cup about a year ago. I hadn’t had a great year in 2023 because I’d developed Graves disease and spent a few months getting that under control, then had a crash in my first race back and injured my knee. But towards the end of the season I was starting to feel good again and realised that I might actually be able to get enough UCI points to do a world cup. Once I saw it was possible, I got set on the idea and just had to give it a go. 

Have you changed much in preparation for the step up? You’re on pretty much a full time training program now?

Yeah I left my job as a software engineer in April this year so that I was able to make the trip out to Europe for the world cups and have more time to train in preparation. Having all the time to train has made a massive difference; I can do more hours on the bike and don’t always have to train in the evenings when I’m tired, but I've also been able to make improvements in lots of other areas. Things like diet, recovery, stretching, and getting more sleep, which all make a big difference but get overlooked a bit when you’re pushed for time.  I'll probably need to work a bit over winter, but I'll hopefully still be in a much better position to train than I was last year. 

Let's talk through some of how it is trying to move up to world cup level. Presumably both the racecourses and the standard of the field are a big step up from the domestic level?

Yeah it definitely felt like a big step up. Technically the courses are much harder than I’ve been used to. I knew this was going to be the case so I was sort of prepared for it, but it was still a bit intimidating particularly when practice was busy and you have an audience at all of the technical sections. It’s helped a lot with my confidence though, because when you’re there you kind of just have to get on with it and ride things that you might think twice about if you were just out for a ride.

Another really big difference compared to races over here was the size of the fields. Going into this year I had really limited race experience and I’d never raced outside the UK, so racing in a big field where you’re having constant battles with other riders wasn’t something I was used to. I did a few smaller races abroad early in the year which definitely helped, but even so it felt crazy being on the start lines with 70 or 80 riders. The standard is another level too!

What have been the big learning points? 

There have been a lot!  My main goal for the season was to learn as much as possible. Probably one of the biggest is related to what I was saying about the bigger fields and having people around you all the time. Because of that I’ve learned that I need to be more assertive in races. There were times when I felt strong on technical sections but couldn't capitalize on them because I was stuck behind other riders. I think I could have minimized this and made up time by being more assertive in going for gaps and overtaking in the right places. Being smarter about moving up in the pack, particularly when it’s really hectic at the start, is something to work on so I can save some matches to burn later in the race.

Other than race tactics, I've paid much more attention to bike setup, experimenting to find what feels best in different conditions with tyre and shock pressures. I’ve started using 2.4 Maxxis Apens and have been able to run much lower pressures than I was used to, which means you get a surprising amount of grip from such a fast rolling tyre. I’ve also been experimenting with my pre-race routine and trying to figure out what works for me with training and tapering to make sure I’m feeling good on race day. I’m also working on refining my nutrition strategy, something I’ve been pretty bad at but makes a massive difference to performance and is a pretty easy gain to make.

Extra Stress with having to deal with all the maintenance and mechanical issues without team support?

Fortunately my partner Joe has been able to take time away from work to come with me to all the races, and has admirably filled the joint role of cheerleader and mechanic to take the stress of maintaining the bikes away. He’s been a massive help throughout the season, it would have been way harder on my own.

Were you happy with how it all went overall? 

Yeah looking back I’m happy with it. The plan for this year was always to focus more on learning and experience, rather than results. I'm always looking for things I could have done better and I'm pleased that the races have highlighted what I need to work on over winter. I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can do next year with this experience behind me.

You’ve recently started training with Andy at Dirt School. I guess there are big gains to be made at the world cups from technical improvement as well as fitness?

Definitely. Being relatively new to mountain biking, it’s an area I’m hoping I have a lot of room to improve in. The XC courses abroad are far more technical than most of the courses we have here, so having strong technical skills makes a difference.

It's not that I'm particularly weak technically—I didn't struggle to get around any of the courses—but the world cup fields, even a small difference in technical ability can have a big impact. It's not just about descending faster but also about recovering during the descents and saving energy for where it counts.

Andy has helped me to pick out areas I can work on, and I'm already seeing a difference in my riding.  I mentioned that racing tactically is much more important in the world cup races, and he has a lot of good advice on that too. I’m excited to work more with Andy over the winter and would like to work on my skills on jumps and bike park type features.

What’s next? Races over the winter? Training for next year? What are you entering next year?

I’m doing the national marathon championships at Newcastleton in a couple of weeks , then I'll be finishing the XC season with a couple of races in Greece in October. I’m hoping to pick up some points so that I can improve my UCI ranking and maybe start further forward than the back row at the world cups next year! 

Keen to see how Grace gets on? Give her a follow on insta at @graceinglis or keep an eye on our socials for updates.