If patience is a virtue, then it’s one that Callum Thornley’s very much lacking.

It’s not the worst character flaw, however, and it’s likely he’s got his impatience to thank for the speed of his rise in the cycling world.

Over the next year, the 21-year-old from Peebles will get a taste of exactly what it’s like to be a professional bike rider.

And the Scot is confident that by the end of 2025, he will be a fully-fledged professional cyclist.

Thornley’s optimism is not misplaced.

Over the past twelve months, he’s proven himself to be one of Britain’s brightest talents on the road.

Particular highlights were winning the mountains classification at the Tour of Britain in September, as well as a top-ten finish at Paris-Roubaix Espoirs and two top-five stage finishes at the Baby Giro earlier in 2024.

Thornley admits he’s almost completely happy with how his most recent season panned out, but there remains one slight failing that niggles him.

“I’ve time to process things and overall, 2024 was really good for me. My level for the entire year was very high but I didn’t manage to actually get a win, which was a little frustrating,” he says.

“In races, I struggle with having patience so what often happens is I’ll burn my matches early on trying to get away instead of trusting my ability and waiting until the last hour and going for the win then.

“Thinking back to a lot of my races this year, often what would have helped me is having just that little bit more experience because if you’ve been in certain situations or made certain mistakes before, you know better how to handle them.”

(Image: Getty Images)

Thornley’s performances in 2024 caught the eye of the head of development at one of the sport’s top world tour teams, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe and in October, the Borders' rider duly signed with the German team’s development squad, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe Rookies.

Based in the Spanish city of Girona, Thornley has thrown himself headfirst into training and given that his Red Bull teammates include the current Vuelta a España champion, Primož Roglič from Slovenia, there’s no shortage of experience and knowledge for the young Scot to tap into over the off-season, and that’s something he’s making full use of.

Thornley’s 2025 season will consist of under-23 races, which he will race as part of the development team but he’ll also, significantly, have the opportunity to race as part of Red Bull's world tour team on occasion, likely as soon as February.

The Scot admits that on hearing Red Bull’s plan to include him in their under-23 squad rather than fast-track him straight to their world tour squad, his impatience struck again and he felt a tinge of disappointment but on reflection, he now realises this is the ideal balance as he looks to advance his career.

“It’s hard not to want to have it all now and initially, I really wanted to step-up to the world tour in 2025,” he says.

“But actually, combining under-23 racing and world tour racing is the perfect balance. It means I get my own opportunities to do well in the under-23 races and hopefully make myself into a winner, as well as getting experience at the highest level with the world tour team.

“And I’ll be able to pick the brains of the world tour guys because I want to learn as much as possible.

“If I’d gone pro too early, there’s the danger of being pigeon-holed as a domestique.”

At his traning base in Girona, Thornley is a thousand-or-so miles from his childhood home in Peebles but the fact he’s one of several young Scots who are on the path to becoming world-class road racers means he’s far from lonely.

Oscar Onley and Sean Flynn, both of whom already have professional contracts, live only minutes from Thornley's Spanish home and he admits having his compatriots on hand both as training buddies and as role models has been invaluable.

“It’s really cool that we all live so close together and can train together - and it’s nice hearing other Scottish accents, too,” Thornley says.

“It gives me a real sense of comfort watching other Scots getting to where I want to be – Oscar and Sean have progressed to the top level and they’re doing really well so it shows that it is doable.”

Thornley is, he admits, something of an over-thinker but, to date anyway, he remains entirely unaffected by the pressure than can weigh down any rider who’s trying to forge their way in the hyper-competitive world of professional bike racing.

And despite setting lofty targets for himself for the coming twelve months, he reveals he has a quiet confidence that he’s well on his way to becoming Scotland’s next professional road racer which, unsurprisingly, he wants to happen sooner rather than later.

“The main goal for 2025 is, at the end of the season, to turn pro with the main team, Red Bull Bora,” he says.

“The best way for me to make sure that happens is to win races and I really want to win some of the big classics at under-23 level like Paris-Roubaix and Gent-Wevelgem. I’d like to get some stage wins in races like the Baby Giro, too.

“I set myself big goals because I fully believe I have the physical ability to do it.

“I do have a real sense that, as long as I keep training hard and don’t suffer any really bad luck, things will go the way I want them to go.

“I’d love to be sitting here in a year having won multiple races and signed a pro contract.”