While most eyes this weekend will drift to the patchwork of regional championships happening across Britain, one race in particular carries a sharper edge. On Sunday, the spa town of Llandrindod Wells becomes the crucible in which Wales decides its new road-race royalty.
There is more at stake than a medal and a photoshoot. The winners will earn the coveted red-and-white dragon jersey they’ll parade at every start-line for the next twelve months, a footnote that follows a rider for life.
What is it?
The Welsh Road Race Championships (Welsh: Pencampwriaeth Ras Ffordd Cymru) is the annual one-day showdown that crowns Wales’s national champions across women’s, open and age-group categories. The men’s (now called ‘open’) title was first awarded in 1991, while the women’s championship debuted in 1998 with triumph for Olympic sprint legend Louise Jones.
Although the race is open to all, only riders who meet Welsh eligibility can lift the dragon-emblazoned jersey. You must either have been born in Wales, have Welsh-domiciled parents, be the son or daughter of someone born in Wales, or have lived in the country for three consecutive years before race day. Non-eligible entrants can still race for the win on the road; the jersey, medals and lifelong bragging rights, however, are reserved for the first Welsh-qualified finisher.
Laura Furness and Sam Llewelyn won the senior titles last September, but the jersey is back on the line this Sunday – and for every rider on the start list, it is the red-and-white prize that defines a Welsh season.
Route
At 28km, the circuit used for the championships is lengthy by National B standards and offers every type of rider an opportunity to compete for the win. With 350m of elevation gain per lap over a series of long drags which dominate the course, it should favour aggressive racing and the strongest riders.
The defining ascent of the race could be the A4081 climb, the summit marking a 5km downhill run to the line. At 1.7km with an average gradient nearing 4% it isn’t it isn’t one for a pure climber, but a power climb where the strongest riders will be looking to make their advantage count.
Last time out
In 2024, it was a breakaway that contested the win, where Sam Llewelyn was victorious, outmuscling pre-race favourites Will Roberts and Ed Morgan from the select group with a long-range sprint up the drag to the finish. The winning move of 6 went clear on the second lap of 4, having attacked over the top of the races early move.
Riders to watch
Open race
With 39 riders in the Open senior category, and a further 8 in the juniors, it is a small field, but this only condenses the quality of it.
Reigning champion Sam Llewelyn of PB Performance will be determined to defend his jersey from last year, and he will be helped by having a teammate in Tom Charles, who was 7th at Chitterne Road Race earlier in the year. A willing ally could be crucial in such a compact field. Talking of numbers, the Muc Off-SRCT-Storck duo of Ed Morgan and William Truelove is a frightening prospect. Morgan is a firm favourite, winner of PNE RR and 4th at the Rutland-Melton Cicle Classic, was third last year and will be wanting to add to his Welsh Criterium Champions jersey of 2023. William Truelove was one of the earlier part of the season’s most consistent riders, finishing in the top five in every race he rode, until an injury in the Rutland- Melton Cicle Classic derailed his stellar start. He will be looking to bounce back, and this race could be the perfect springboard.
Thomas Doig of Primera-TeamJobs was second at DAP CC RR last weekend, and is a rider in form, as is Archie Peet of Reflex Nopinz, who won the BUCS Road Race Championship. Should the race come down to a sprint, former Saint-Piran rider and multiple national champion on the track Will Roberts, silver medallist in the 2024 edition, will be one to watch.
Young Max Bufton could be a thorn in the side of the more experienced, 5th at PB Performance Espoirs U23 race backed up by 14th in Rutland Melton Cicle Classic, the Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli rider has seamlessly made the jump from junior in the U23 ranks. Similarly, Cannibal Victorious junior Dylan Sage is certainly one to watch.
One of the few non-Welsh riders in the race, Charlie Genner of the Pamplona based Telco-On-Clima team, is a solid bet for the race win. One for a long-range attack, as his victory at Chitterne showed, and a previous winner on the Llandrindod circuit, Genner could be a beneficiary if riders who are focused on the bragging rights of the jersey watch each other.
Women’s race
Silver medallist twelve months ago, Rebecca Woodvine (Team Boompods) returns with unfinished business. The Shropshire-born rider has already shown she can handle the rolling Welsh terrain. Her best result this spring was 13th at the North Lincolnshire Women’s Classic. Lowri Richards (Wales Racing Academy) is a powerful rouleur with track pedigree and an obvious home motivation. She piloted the lead-out that shaped last year’s finale and still hung on for fourth, and also scored a top-ten ride in the U23 time-trial at the British Road Nationals last June. If the bunch hesitates, expect her to try a long, hard move before the run-in.
Still a junior, Grace Ward (Watersley R&D) has been the breakthrough Welsh rider of the spring. Sixth at the Banbury Star Women’s Road Race against a strong elite field showed she can climb, persist, and still sprint. The repeated drags on Sunday’s circuit suit her punchy style. Another junior, Mabli Phillips (Shibden Apex RT), Phillips loves stop-start racing: she kicked clear to win the opening and third rounds of the City Crits series in Cardiff this April and May, and placed 13th overall at the hilly Peaks 2 Day stage race. If the front group starts to watch each other on the final lap, Phillips has the acceleration to disappear.
Junior teammates Carys Blowers and Megan Lloyd (Liv CC – Halo Films) offer further threats. Blowers arrives with a deep résumé: 15th at Gent-Wevelgem Juniors, silver in the British junior Madison and 13th at the junior CAMS Yorkshire Classic last season. That blend of endurance and track-honed speed makes her a danger if a small lead group hits the finishing straight. Lloyd is the reigning Welsh junior circuit-race champion and arrives on a roll after winning the North Wales Circuit Series in Rhyl on 17 May — beating senior riders in the process. Lloyd’s strength lies in her fast finish after a hard, rolling race; if the front group is still together on the run-in she is a rider few will want to drag to the line.
Provisional startlists
Open race
| Bib | Rider | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Fletcher Adams | Wolfox CAMS Le Col RT | 0 |
| #2 | Hugh Aubrey | Beeston Cycling Club | 40 |
| #3 | Max Bufton | Wheelbase CabTech Castelli | 118 |
| #4 | Thomas Charles | Team PB Performance | 27 |
| #5 | Iwan Clark | Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy | 0 |
| #6 | Harry Codd | Reflex Nopinz | 5 |
| #7 | Cai Curtis-Roberts | 360 cycling | 13 |
| #8 | Peter Davies | Private Member | 0 |
| #9 | Thomas Doig | Primera-TeamJobs | 89 |
| #10 | Patrick Fotheringham | ATP Performance | 19 |
| #11 | Charlie Genner | Telco’m – On Clima – Osés | 87 |
| #12 | Ben Goodwin | StolenGoat Race Team | 28 |
| #13 | David Griffiths | Clee Cycles | 0 |
| #14 | William Haynes | Cheltenham & County Cycling Club | 0 |
| #15 | Peter Hitt | Warwick Lanterne Rouge CC | 0 |
| #16 | Joe Holt | Private Member | 0 |
| #17 | Rhys Howells | DAS Richardsons | 0 |
| #18 | Iestyn Jones | Cardiff Ajax CC | 0 |
| #19 | Sion Jones | Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy | 0 |
| #20 | Jack Kellam | Cardiff Ajax CC | 0 |
| #21 | Tim Lages | Friction Racing | 0 |
| #22 | Sam Llewelyn | Team PB Performance | 9 |
| #23 | Rhodri Lord | Cardiff Ajax CC | 0 |
| #24 | Dexter Mansel-Thomas | Schils – Doltcini Racing Team | 27 |
| #25 | Thomas Mitchell | Dolan Factory Racing | 0 |
| #26 | Edward Morgan | MUC-OFF-SRCT-STORCK | 348 |
| #27 | Cameron Morris | Ride Revolution Coaching | 0 |
| #28 | Huw Owen | Clwb Beicio Egni Eryri | 0 |
| #29 | Archie Peet | Reflex Nopinz | 62 |
| #30 | Marinus Petersen | Kalas Motip Race Team | 0 |
| #31 | Daniel Piercy | StolenGoat Race Team | 16 |
| #32 | William Roberts | Dolan Factory Racing | 3 |
| #33 | William Salter | BCC Race Team | 3 |
| #34 | James Somerfield | Schils – Doltcini Racing Team | 27 |
| #35 | Rhys Thomas | Private Member | 0 |
| #36 | William Truelove | MUC-OFF-SRCT-STORCK | 198 |
| #37 | Mathys Venter | Spirit Racing Team | 0 |
| #38 | Archie Waller | Raptor Factory Racing | 0 |
| #39 | George Bromley | Beeston Cycling Club | 0 |
| #40 | Alex Coles | Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco | 0 |
| #41 | Reuben Cox | Cardiff Ajax CC | 0 |
| #42 | Huw Cressey-Rodgers | Team Pau | 0 |
| #43 | Rhys Edwards | Vanelli-Project Go | 0 |
| #44 | Ted Harvey | Team Pau | 0 |
| #45 | Dylan Sage | Cannibal B Victorious | 0 |
| #46 | Samuel Stewart-Ball | Shibden Apex RT | 0 |
| #47 | Brion Thomas | Team Pau | 0 |
Women’s race
| Bib | Rider | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Carys Blowers | Liv Cycling Club – Halo Films | 0 |
| #2 | Jessica Bufton | Hafren CC | 0 |
| #3 | Aelwen Davies | Shibden Apex RT | 0 |
| #4 | Megan Lloyd | Liv Cycling Club – Halo Films | 0 |
| #5 | Mabli Phillips | Shibden Apex RT | 11 |
| #6 | Seren Thomas | Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco | 0 |
| #7 | Grace Ward | Watersley R&D Cycling Team | 31 |
| #8 | Lois Brewer | Ystwyth Cycling Club | 0 |
| #9 | Leah Brewer | Ystwyth Cycling Club | 0 |
| #10 | Tia Froom | Abergavenny Road Club | 0 |
| #11 | Lili-Keau Juntakereket | Private Member | 0 |
| #12 | Jirina Mala | Private Member | 0 |
| #13 | Lucy Morley | Velotik Racing Team | 0 |
| #14 | Lowri Richards | Wales Racing Academy | 0 |
| #15 | Rebecca Woodvine | Team Boompods | 11 |
| #16 | Karen Jones | Holyhead Cycling Club | 0 |
| #17 | Tammy Lewis-Jones | Clwb Beicio Egni Eryri | 0 |
