Husband and wife doctors at a hospital in Clydebank are taking on a different challenge as the gear up to compete for Team GB at the UCI Cycling World Championships.
The contest is being held in Scotland over the next 10 days and top cyclists Donna Clayton, a specialist anaesthetist, and orthopaedic surgeon Jason Roberts will compete in races for the 50-55 ages category.
Dr Clayton qualified for the championships after finishing the tour of Cambridgeshire Road Race event in June to claim the Great British crown.
Dr Roberts also finished sixth in the same age category at the Peterborough event, assuring his qualification for the road race championship later this week.
On Monday, Dr Roberts will compete in the Men’s Time Trial championship in Dundee.
READ MORE: All the events taking place at the UCI Cycling World Championships 2023
The couple both work at the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital in Clydebank and met in the late 1980s while studying at university in Leicester.
Dr Roberts said: “It’s really special to be involved in this event, especially as it’s the first of its kind, we’ll be representing our country wearing the GB kit, and that we are both competing in the sport that we love.
“I think she (Dr Clayton) has a better chance than I have of finishing with a medal being the British champion and we’ll both be trying very hard to compete well in our races.
“I went to study at Leicester because they had such a great cycling programme as I was already competing at quite a high level back then, and I was lucky enough to meet Donna there too when she was training as an anaesthetist.”
It’s really special to be involved in this event, especially as it’s the first of its kind, we’ll be representing our country wearing the GB kit, and that we are both competing in the sport that we love
These championships will be the first time the UCI has run all the different cycling specialities in the one event and it is being billed as “the biggest cycling event ever”, with Scotland as the first host.
NHS Golden Jubilee chief executive Gordon James said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to see Donna and Jason competing in these world championships.
“It just highlights how talented they are, not just in our theatres and clinics treating and caring for our patients, but through their cycling, which I know they are so passionate about.
“Everyone here at Team Jubilee will be rooting for them and we wish them, and all the competitors, well in what promises to be a thrilling event for the whole of Scotland.”
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