The British Cycling Junior Road Series is the premier road racing series in the UK for junior riders. This explainer tells you what it is and how it works.
What is it?
The series comprises a set of one-day and stage races for both junior men and women. As explained below, points are awarded to the top finishers in each race, with the overall series winners being the riders with the most points. The series helps to highlight future prospects; many of the riders at the top of the standings tables have gone on to forge successful careers as bike racers (see ‘Past winners’, below).
Last season, Leo Hayter (VC Londres, now Development Team Sunweb) won the men’s nine-race series in 2019, whilst Abi Smith (Campinense ‐ Velo Performance) won the three-race women’s equivalent.
What are the races?
As the last sentence highlights, there is a significant disparity in the number of races for men and women. This continues in 2020, albeit with the welcome addition of the very first Junior Women’s Tour of Wales.
Men’s junior series
The junior men’s series boasts more races, race days and stages than the senior men’s National Road Series. Whilst the men’s National Road Series is rumoured to include 7 one-day races in 2020, as well as the 2-day Tour of the Reservoir, the junior men’s series is blessed with 9 races, including 4 stage races. The jewel in the crown is undoubtedly the Junior Tour of Wales, which acts as the grand finale to the series and has an illustrious list of past winners.
| Date | Round | Race | Location |
| 22 Mar | 1 | Hatherleigh Junior Road Race | Devon |
| 17-19 Apr | 2 | Junior Tour of the Mendip | Somerset |
| 17 May | 3 | Cadence Junior Road Race | Powys |
| 22-24 May | 4 | Isle of Man Youth & Junior Tour | Isle of Man |
| 20-21 Jun | 5 | Spokes Junior Road Race | Fife |
| 28 Jun | 6 | Monmouthshire Junior Grand Prix | Monmouthshire |
| 5 Jul | 7 | Junior CiCLE Classic | Leicestershire |
| 26 Jul | 8 | Bath RC Junior RR | Somerset |
| 28-31 Aug | 9 | Junior Tour of Wales | Blaenau Gwent |
Women’s junior series
The women’s series is comprised of 3 stage races and a one-day race this year. The addition of the Junior Women’s Tour of Wales is an exciting development, which will hopefully encourage more race organisers to follow suit.
| Date | Round | Race | Location |
| 4-5 Apr | 1 | Witham Hall 2-Day | Lincolnshire |
| 17-19 Apr | 2 | Junior Women’s Tour of the Mendip | Somerset |
| 2 Aug | 3 | Chitterne Road Race | Wiltshire |
| 29-31 Aug | 4 | Junior Women’s Tour of Wales | Blaenau Gwent |
Junior National Road Championships
The Junior National Road Championships feature a road race and time trial. They are not part of the Junior Road Series as such, but nonetheless carry the prestige crowning the national junior champions in both disciplines.
| Date | Race | Location |
| 18 Jul | Time trial | North West (exact venue TBC) |
| 19 Jul | Road race | North West (exact venue TBC) |
Scoring
For both the men’s and women’s series, there is an overall rider classification. Points will be awarded for:
- The first 20 places in each single day road race and overall classifications in stage races: 30, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
- The first 10 places in individual stages in stage races: 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
The overall winner of the series will be the rider who gains the highest total number of points across the series, with all rounds to count.
Past winners
The men’s series has been running since 2006 and past winners include Simon Yates, Pete Kennaugh, Matt Gibson, Alex Peters and Erick Rowsell. The women’s series has much less history, with Abi Smith (2019) April Tracey (2018) the two series winners to date.
Men
| Year | Rider | Team |
| 2019 | Leo Hayter | VC Londres |
| 2018 | Mason Hollyman | Zappi Racing Team |
| 2017 | Oscar Mingay | Giant Cycling Club – Halo Films |
| 2016 | Charlie Meredith | Giant Cycling Club – Halo Films |
| 2015 | Harry Hardcastle | Speedflex Race Team |
| 2014 | Matthew Gibson | Velocity WD-40 |
| 2013 | Jake Kelly | Manx Viking Wheelers CC |
| 2012 | Alex Peters | Mosquito Bikes |
| 2011 | Alistair Slater | Hargroves Cycles-Trant-Next-Specialised-GSI |
| 2010 | Simon Yates | Maxgear RT |
| 2009 | Joe Perrett | Glendene CC/Bike Trax Junior Team |
| 2008 | Erick Rowsell | Team Corridori |
| 2007 | Peter Kennaugh | Pinarello RT |
| 2006 | Andrew Griffiths | Glendene CC / Bike Trax |
Women
| Year | Rider | Team |
| 2019 | Abi Smith | Campinense ‐ Velo Performance |
| 2018 | April Tacey | Team22 |
Read more
The British Cycling pages on the Junior Road Series, for men and women, can be found here.
The full set of regulations for the junior men’s series can be found here. The junior women’s series regulations are here.
