The British Women’s Team Cup gets underway on Sunday 23 April with the Dave Peck Memorial in Surrey. This post explains what the British Women’s Team Cup is, its history, what the races are, and how it works.
The British Women’s Team Cup began in the year 2000. Known as the Women’s Team Series until it was renamed in 2020, the competition was created in response to the perceived decline of the Jo Bruton Trophy (the forerunner to the women’s National Road Series).
The competition comprises a series of National B road races across the season, with the onus on team performance. Each team can enter six riders in an event with the first four riders finishing positions scoring points that count towards the team’s placing in the overall series.
The LAKA Pedal Mafia RT team won the 2022 competition and is back to defend its crown for 2023.
History
“Women’s racing reached an all-time low in 1999 when British Cycling decided to handicap the Bruton Series, an action that saw a general decline in the number of riders, followed by a decline in the number of races”, reflects British Women’s Team Cup organiser John Miles on the competition’s website. “Indeed, in August 2000, the general feeling was that the Bruton Series should be allowed to ‘die'”.
After a meeting with British Cycling in Leicester in 1999, Miles met with Jenny Gretton at the car park outside. They lamented the poor state of women’s racing and just half an hour later, they had formed the concept of the Women’s Team Series.
John Miles receiving his Gold Badge of Honour for his lifelong contribution to the sport at the 2023 British Cycling awards.
The first-ever Women’s Team Series race was held on 30 April 2000 in Bedford, with two other races also being added to the series that year.
The competition has grown significantly since those early beginnings. Many of the UK’s top riders have participated in British Women’s Team Cup races on their way to the top of the sport: Anna Henderson, Hannah Barnes, Laura Kenny, Lizzie Deignan, Lizzy Banks, Alice Barnes, and Zoe Bäckstedt, to name just a few.
What are the races?
This year the British Women’s Team Cup features six rounds – all National B road races – spread across the season.
The competition begins with the Dave Peck Memorial on 23 April and culminates with the Halesowen A&CC Women’s Road Race on 2 September.
Date
Round
Location
Race
23 Apr
1
Virginia Water, Surrey
Twickenham CC Dave Peck Memorial
21 May
2
Banbury, Oxfordshire
Banbury Star Women’s Road Race
10 Jun
3
Hillingdon, London
Will Houghton Memorial
9 Jul
4
Solihull, West Midlands
Inkberrow Women’s Road Race
30 Jul
5
Naseby, Northamptonshire
Duncan Murray Wines Road Race
2 Sep
6
Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire
Halesowen A&CC Women’s Road Race
The teams
On the eve of round 1, 24 teams were registered to take part in the Cup:
05/03
Army Cycling Union
AWOL Worx
Brother UK Orientation Marketing
Cowley Road Condors
FTP-Fulfil The Potential Racing
Hutchinson-Brother UK
Inflite Femme
Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon
JRC Interflon RT
LAKA Pedal Mafia RT
Le Col Race Team
LDN Academy
Liv CC Halo Films
London Dynamo
Loughborough Lightning
Onyx RT
Saint Piran WRT
StolenGoat Race Team
Tactic UK WRT
Team Boompods
Team Empella
Team Spectra Cannondale
Wahoo Le Col
How it works
Team rules
Teams can field a maximum number of 6 riders in each event.
Where teams wish to enter more than 6 riders in a race then they can enter two teams of four riders (Team A and Team B) that will need to compete in differently designed jerseys; in the event that this is used only occasionally during the season, only Team A’s points will be counted for the overall team points total.
Guest riders are allowed where teams are unable to field the full complement of riders for a race but they must be notified to Team Cup admin prior to the race and must ride in the team jersey of the team they are guesting for. Guest riders may only swap between teams up to twice in the racing season.
Scoring
In each race, the first four riders in each team will count for British Women’s Team Cup points, with points awarded as follows:
Pos
Points
1st
150
2nd
130
3rd
115
4th
100
5th
90
6th
80
7th
70
8th
65
9th
60
10th
55
11th
52
12th
49
13th
47
14th
45
15th
43
16th
41
17th
39
18th
37
19th
35
20th
33
Then from 21st place onwards, points descend in one-point gaps down to the rider in 49th place (who gets 4 points). Then from 50th place onwards, each rider to finish gets one point.
Any rider over and above the first four counting riders for a team will have their points discounted.
The winning team will be the team that accrues the most points over each of the six rounds.
Eligibility
4th category license holders are excluded from the British Women’s Team Cup events.
Individual riders, or riders that are not members of a team that has registered for the British Women’s Team Cup, can compete in the races but are not eligible to receive team prize monies. Riders in teams that are already registered for the Team Cup competition will be prioritised for race entry acceptance.
The British Women’s Team Cup gets underway on Sunday 23 April with the Dave Peck Memorial in Surrey. This post explains what the British Women’s Team Cup is, its history, what the races are, and how it works.
Featured photo: Ian Wrightson
What is the British Women’s Team Cup?
The British Women’s Team Cup began in the year 2000. Known as the Women’s Team Series until it was renamed in 2020, the competition was created in response to the perceived decline of the Jo Bruton Trophy (the forerunner to the women’s National Road Series).
The competition comprises a series of National B road races across the season, with the onus on team performance. Each team can enter six riders in an event with the first four riders finishing positions scoring points that count towards the team’s placing in the overall series.
The LAKA Pedal Mafia RT team won the 2022 competition and is back to defend its crown for 2023.
History
“Women’s racing reached an all-time low in 1999 when British Cycling decided to handicap the Bruton Series, an action that saw a general decline in the number of riders, followed by a decline in the number of races”, reflects British Women’s Team Cup organiser John Miles on the competition’s website. “Indeed, in August 2000, the general feeling was that the Bruton Series should be allowed to ‘die'”.
After a meeting with British Cycling in Leicester in 1999, Miles met with Jenny Gretton at the car park outside. They lamented the poor state of women’s racing and just half an hour later, they had formed the concept of the Women’s Team Series.
The first-ever Women’s Team Series race was held on 30 April 2000 in Bedford, with two other races also being added to the series that year.
The competition has grown significantly since those early beginnings. Many of the UK’s top riders have participated in British Women’s Team Cup races on their way to the top of the sport: Anna Henderson, Hannah Barnes, Laura Kenny, Lizzie Deignan, Lizzy Banks, Alice Barnes, and Zoe Bäckstedt, to name just a few.
What are the races?
This year the British Women’s Team Cup features six rounds – all National B road races – spread across the season.
The competition begins with the Dave Peck Memorial on 23 April and culminates with the Halesowen A&CC Women’s Road Race on 2 September.
3Race
Road Race
The teams
On the eve of round 1, 24 teams were registered to take part in the Cup:
How it works
Team rules
Teams can field a maximum number of 6 riders in each event.
Where teams wish to enter more than 6 riders in a race then they can enter two teams of four riders (Team A and Team B) that will need to compete in differently designed jerseys; in the event that this is used only occasionally during the season, only Team A’s points will be counted for the overall team points total.
Guest riders are allowed where teams are unable to field the full complement of riders for a race but they must be notified to Team Cup admin prior to the race and must ride in the team jersey of the team they are guesting for. Guest riders may only swap between teams up to twice in the racing season.
Scoring
In each race, the first four riders in each team will count for British Women’s Team Cup points, with points awarded as follows:
Then from 21st place onwards, points descend in one-point gaps down to the rider in 49th place (who gets 4 points). Then from 50th place onwards, each rider to finish gets one point.
Any rider over and above the first four counting riders for a team will have their points discounted.
The winning team will be the team that accrues the most points over each of the six rounds.
Eligibility
4th category license holders are excluded from the British Women’s Team Cup events.
Individual riders, or riders that are not members of a team that has registered for the British Women’s Team Cup, can compete in the races but are not eligible to receive team prize monies. Riders in teams that are already registered for the Team Cup competition will be prioritised for race entry acceptance.
Find out more
Follow the British Women’s Team Cup on Twitter.
Follow the British Women’s Team Cup on Instagram.
Follow the British Women’s Team Cup on Facebook.
Visit the British Women’s Team Cup website here.
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