2022 Yorkshire Under-23 Classic: preview and startlist

The inaugural Under-23 Men’s National Road Series begins on Sunday 17 April with the Yorkshire Under-23 Classic. Here’s a preview of the race, including route details, contenders, startlist and timings.

What is it?

The first race of five in the new Under-23 Men’s National Road Series, the Yorkshire Under-23 Classic is a 122km road race that takes place on the border between West and South Yorkshire. Organised by British Cycling Yorkshire, it is a brand new race created specifically for British Cycling’s new series.

Route

The race takes place on the Holmfirth CC race circuit in Upper Denby, just north of Penistone. The circuit is 13.2km and features 205m of climbing, according to VeloViewer, with a total race distance of 122km. It’s the same course used for The Barnsley (Not in the Town Centre….) Races last year.

After a short neutralised section starting at the race HQ in Birds Edge, the riders then join the circuit at Ingbirchworth, tackling it in an anticlockwise direction.

From here, the circuit follows the A629 to Well House, on a meandering, but broadly flat, road. At Well House, the riders turn left, descending all the way down to Clough Green. Another left here takes the riders on the A635 toward Nether End. As the riders pass Hagg Wood, the main difficulty of the circuit begins, a 3.72km staggered climb up to Upper Denby. It has an average gradient of just 3.9%, but the steepest parts, positioned after the start/finish line in Lower Denby, are more testing, with ramps above 10% in places.

After Upper Denby, it’s relatively straight and flat again until the circuit reaches Ingbirchworth once more.

As mentioned above, the finish itself is positioned halfway up the main climb, in Lower Denby. This should make for a selective finish if a few riders are still together on the final lap. With no big UCI Continental teams to control the race however, it’s likely the race will have blown apart long before the final few hundred metres.

Contenders

Perusing the provisional startlist (below), two names jump out immediately: Josh Whitehead and Toby Barnes (both WiV SunGod). Both riders have been in excellent form already this season. 2021 Lancaster Grand Prix winner Whitehead was 2nd overall at the Peaks 2 Day and 4th at the Capenwray road race. Barnes, meanwhile, was 5th overall at the Peaks 2 Day and won the Danum Trophy two weeks ago. Whatsmore, both riders have form on this course; they finished first and second on this course at The Barnsley (Not in the Town Centre….) Races last season.

The Wales Racing Academy should be one of the strongest teams at the race and they have several cards to play. Sam Beckett leads our national road race rankings after a fine start to the season, including wins at the Primavera Road Race and the Bynea Early Season Road Race. A crash at the recent Circuit des Ardennes may have set him back a little, however, and his successes have some far come on flatter courses. Owain Roberts is another challenger. 11th at the Lancaster GP and 14th at Ryedale last season indicates he can go well on this type of terrain and he has a handy finish too. He was 34th overall in a tough recent edition of the recent Circuit des Ardennes, so the form is there too. Edward Morgan is another of the team’s riders who has started the season well.

Local team Cycling Sheffield also have cards to play. Adam Mitchell was 4th at The Barnsley (Not in the Town Centre….) Races last year, and was 2nd behind Toby Barnes at the recent Danum Trophy. George Wood was a two-time National B road race winner last season and is the type of rider that should suit a course like this.

Joe Wilson (Dolan Ellesse RT) has been one of the in-form riders on this type of terrain this season. He was 5th at the Capenwray road race, 10th overall at the Peaks 2 Day (including second on stage 2) and 4th at the Danum Trophy. Farley Barber (Spirit BSS) is another rider currently on song, and his consistency this season means he sits 4th in our national road race rankings.

Former WiV SunGod rider Callum MacLeod (À Bloc CT) could be another rider to watch. He has already had a good block of UCI racing in his legs, including 12th place at the Grand Prix Velo Alanya (1.2), and should be starting to come into form ahead of his big race targets in May. Jack Rootkin-Gray (Team Inspired) is another lone operator that the other riders will want to watch. He was 12th at the Youngster Coast Challenge (1.2U) this season and, like any GB Senior Academy rider, he shouldn’t be underestimated.

Ben Granger (Zappi Racing RT) is a rider who, on paper at least, should go well. He has had little racing so far this year, however, so his form is difficult to judge. The same can be said for first-year senior Aidan Lawrence (TRINITY Road Racing); he had some top results on the junior circuit last year, including 6th overall at the Junior Tour of Wales, but he remains relatively untested at the elite level so far.

Others to keep an eye on include Team PB Performance’s Jacques Coates (6th overall at the Peaks 2 Day), Saint Piran’s Jenson Young (7th overall at the Peaks 2 Day), Samuel Asker (Richardsons-Trek DAS, winner of the DAP CC Spring Road Race last weekend) and 18-year-old Matthew Lord (Hart Performance Coaching), who has made a fine start to the year with second at the DAP CC Spring Road Race and 7th at the Jock Wadley Memorial.

Provisional startlist

#	Name	Club / Team	Category
1	John Russell	05/03	2nd
2	Callum Macleod	ABLOC CT	1st
3	Joshua Horsfield	Bridgnorth Cycling Club	2nd
4	Francis Woodcock	Bury Clarion Cycling Club	2nd
5	Jack Ramsbottom	Caffi Gruff	2nd
6	Benjamin Bright	Coed Llandegla N Wales MBA	2nd
7	Joe Coukham	Cycling Sheffield	2nd
8	William Harding	Cycling Sheffield	2nd
9	James Hartley	Cycling Sheffield	2nd
10	James Hawkins	Cycling Sheffield	2nd
11	Adam Mitchell	Cycling Sheffield	1st
12	George Wood	Cycling Sheffield	1st
13	Thomas Ashcroft	Dolan Ellesse Race Team	2nd
14	Conor McKinnon	Dolan Ellesse Race Team	1st
15	Matthew Taylor	Dolan Ellesse Race Team	1st
16	Joe Wilson	Dolan Ellesse Race Team	1st
17	James Alexander	Embark – Bikestrong	2nd
18	Jamieson Blain	Embark – Bikestrong	1st
19	Bryn Davies	Embark – Bikestrong	2nd
20	David Hird	Embark – Bikestrong	1st
21	Joseph Rees	Embark – Bikestrong	1st
22	Edward Ray	Gloucester City Cycling Club	2nd
23	Matthew Lord	Hart Performance Coaching	2nd
24	James Satoor	Holohan Coaching Race Team	2nd
25	Harry Paveley	Identity Racing	2nd
26	George Radcliffe	Identity Racing	2nd
27	Daniel Yates	Identity Racing	2nd
28	James Harrison	Manx Viking Wheelers CC	2nd
29	Corrin Leeming	Manx Viking Wheelers CC	2nd
30	Matthew Houlberg	Meudon Pedal Heaven Le Col RT	1st
31	James Ashcroft	Nopinz Motip Race Team	1st
32	Toby Tanfield	Retelec-Alca-Team Cycling Galicia	2nd
33	Samuel Asker	Richardsons Trek DAS	1st
34	Aaron Freeman	Richardsons Trek DAS	2nd
35	Aaron King	RT23	2nd
36	Jenson Young	Saint Piran	2nd
37	Oliver Snodden	SF Racing	2nd
38	Daniel Barnes	Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus	2nd
39	Farley Barber	Spirit BSS	2nd
40	Angus Hawkins	Spirit BSS	1st
41	Oliver Hennessy	Spirit BSS	2nd
42	Thomas Price	Spirit BSS	2nd
43	Joshua Price	Spirit BSS	2nd
44	Elliiot Barrat	SRCT MUC-OFF	2nd
45	Matthew Ellis	SRCT MUC-OFF	2nd
46	Thomas  Lowther	SRCT MUC-OFF	2nd
47	Matthew Warhurst	SRCT MUC-OFF	1st
48	Lucas Rowley	Tactic Sport UK Race Team	2nd
49	Kishan Bakrania	TBW23 Stuart Hall Cycling	2nd
50	Jack Rootkin-Gray	Team Inspired	Elite
51	Jacques Coates	Team PB Performance	1st
52	Cian Leveridge	Team PB Performance	2nd
53	Kieran Riley	Team PB Performance	2nd
54	Tom Sharples	Team PB Performance	2nd
55	Cavan Walker	Team PB Performance	2nd
56	Samuel Clark	trainSharp Development Team	1st
57	Jacob James	trainSharp Elite	2nd
58	Tom Mitchell	trainSharp Elite	1st
59	Aidan Lawrence	TRINITY Road Racing	1st
60	Sam Kettlewell	TS Racing	2nd
61	James Brown	University of Bristol CC	2nd
62	James Wordsworth	University of Leeds Cycling Club	2nd
63	Samuel Beckett	Wales Racing Academy	1st
64	Liam James-Morris	Wales Racing Academy	2nd
65	Edward Morgan	Wales Racing Academy	1st
66	Owain Roberts	Wales Racing Academy	1st
67	William Truelove	Wales Racing Academy	1st
68	Matti Dobbins	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	1st
69	Matthew Fox	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	2nd
70	Logan Maclean	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	1st
71	Tim Shoreman	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	1st
72	Callum Thornley	Wheelbase CabTech Castelli	2nd
73	James Bishop	Windle Race Team	2nd
74	Toby Barnes	WiV Sungod	Elite
75	Jim Brown	WiV Sungod	1st
76	Euan Macleod	WiV Sungod	2nd
77	Josh Whitehead	WiV Sungod	1st
78	Dexter Leeming-Sykes	Wold Top The Edge RT	2nd
79	Jack Hartley	Yomp Bonk Crew	2nd
80	Ben Granger	Zappi Racing Team	Elite

Reserves

#	Name	Club / Team	Cat
81	Iwan Evans	Embark – Bikestrong	2nd
82	Cameron Brown	Spokes Racing Team	2nd
83	Ben Chilton	Derby Mercury RC	2nd
84	Thomas Briers	Primera-TeamJobs	2nd
85	Isaac Henley	Caffi Gruff	2nd
86	Samuel Hucks	High Wycombe Cycling Club	2nd
87	George Safranauskas	LVC Racing	2nd
88	Ben Singer	LVC Racing	2nd
89	Oliver Wood	TBW23 Stuart Hall Cycling	2nd

Timings

10.00	Neutralised Race Roll Out from HQ
13.00	Race finish (approximate)
13.45	Podium Presentation

Weather

The weather should be warm and dry, perfect for spectating before coming home to watch the finale of Paris-Roubaix.

How to follow

There is no official live coverage of the race, as far as we are aware, but we will be on the ground at the race, so keep an eye on our social media channels for updates.

Find out more

Under-23 Men’s National Road Series: an explainer