Robert Hassan

The Glasgow Wheelers are currently going though a bit of a transformation, having been a 'normal' club in Scottish domestic racing for the past few years,this year they've come into a bit of funding after Glasgow City Council are understandably pushing sport in the build up to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.They've used their resources wisely and look to be developing a young team, with some excellent role models including Dave Smith, Rab Wardell & Jason Roberts to guide the youngsters in the right direction, talent in nothing without guidance, they've had young talent for a couple of years now, but it's now showing it's true ability.
I was working at the Tour Doonhame Premier Calendar (still referred to as 'The Girvan' by many), I saw first hand how well prepared and how disciplined some of the squads were at this race. Robbie Hassan appeared comfortable at 18 years old in this kind of class competition. The snapshot below shows just where he slots into the UK cycling scene.

25 Dan Fleeman Team Raleigh E st
26 Kristian House Rapha- Condor- Sharp E at 0:36
27 Robert Hassan Glasgow Wheelers Esp 2 at 0:42
28 Yanto Barker Pendragon - Le Col E at 0:53
29 Tom Barras Team Raleigh E at 1:06

Let me expain:
Fleeman was on Cervelo last year, unfortunately injury stopped him renewing his contract, now he's helping develop Raleigh into an ambitious team with big aspirations in the future ( may have a bit of nostalgia here as I rode for them once in the distant past). Kristian House is the current British Road Race Champion, racing for Rapha, a well respected rider who's won the FBD Milk Ras, ahead of Danny Pate, now Garmin. Yanto Barker is a former British Junior Champ, he was on the BC 'plan', but opted to move to France to pursue his career, where he raced for MBK, but I think most would agree he has the talent but chose not to fully pursue a continental pro career, he's now back running his own Welsh team and has his own line of clothing. Tom Barras, is Sid Barras son, google him!

So Robbie, is right there in the mix, he also beat the Endura pro's in last weeks Super6, at 18 he knows how to ride well in GC, but more importantly, he's got the confidence in his own abilities to take on whoever he wants and win, this is what sets Hassan apart from the rest, his ability whether concious or not to 'have a go'. He also has the knowledge that comes with being part of a cycling family, this shouldn't be under-estimated.

I wish him all the best and hope the Wheelers keep doing what they're doing when he moves on, as he inevitably will, they need to treat this as flattery in their setup, coz if they're successfull at what they're trying to achieve, people will move on, that in my opinion is something you can only look on as a success.