2025 Witheridge Grand Prix: preview and startlists
The Devon lanes are calling. This Sunday, the inaugural Witheridge Grand Prix (Sunday 27 July) rolls out from the hilltop village of Witheridge, bringing National A racing back to the South West for the first time in over three decades.
The Devon lanes are calling. This Sunday, the inaugural Witheridge Grand Prix (Sunday 27 July) rolls out from the hilltop village of Witheridge, bringing National A racing back to the South West for the first time in over three decades.
A brand-new addition to the domestic calendar, the race doubles as Round 12 of the Rapha Super-League and marks the fourth and fifth rounds of the men’s and women’s National Road Series respectively. With the promise of full series points and a lumpy, leg-sapping circuit, the stage is set for fireworks across both races – and the absence of Super-League leader Matt Bostock only adds intrigue. Below, we take a closer look at what to expect.
Featured image: SWpix.com
What is it?
The Witheridge Grand Prix is the newest stop on the Lloyds Bank National Road Series and serves as Round 12 of the inaugural Rapha Super‑League. Rolling out this Sunday, 27 July 2025, from the hill-top village of Witheridge in Devon. Classified National A for both women and open categories, it brings Britain’s strongest Continental and Elite Development Team squads to a corner of the country more accustomed to tractors and tourists than team cars.
Witheridge slots in as Round 4 of the open and Round 5 of the women’s National Road Series, expanding the competition’s reach into the South West for the first time since the early‑1990s Premier Calendar era. Devon has not been starved of top‑flight cycling – the Tour of Britain last stormed Exeter High Street in 2021, and Barnstaple in 2018 – but those were stage‑race visits. Witheridge, by contrast, delivers a standalone road classic on Devon lanes.
The race is organised by the volunteer‑led South West Road Race Work Group – fronted by regional chair and event organiser Brian Johnston and Race Director Charlie Revell, with support from Witheridge Town Council and British Cycling South West.
Route
Devon does ‘rolling’ like Belgium does cobbles, and the Witheridge circuit is a master-class in unrelenting momentum swings. One lap measures 43 km with roughly 730 m of vertical gain – multiply that by two for the women and three for the open race and you have a leg-sapping total that will feel far longer than the maths suggests.
The women face two laps (85.6 km) while the open race tackles three (128.4 km), adding up to 1,460 m and 2,190 m of vertical gain respectively.
Seven kilometres in, Edgeworthy Hill snaps the field awake—little more than a kilometre long yet sharp enough to sting—before a swooping descent shuffles the pack like gravel in a tumbler.
The relief is short-lived. Nomansland Rise begins as a lazy false flat but, after Spurway Cross, tightens its grip for a kilometre and a half, nudging six per cent beneath oak canopy and stretching the line to breaking point. Ten kilometres later the race hits Rackenford Ridge, a near four-kilometre haul that grows meaner the higher it drags across open moor; if the cross-wind is blowing, gaps here turn instantly into chasms.
A helter-skelter plunge past the Mount Pleasant Inn offers seconds of free-wheeling before the road flicks cruel again: the B3137, dead-straight, 1.3 kilometres at a nagging five per cent and, sadistically, the official feed zone—soigneurs juggling bidons while riders juggle lactic acid.
Slate-roofed cottages announce the return to Witheridge, yet the finish hides behind one last sting: the school house ramp. This short sharp finale averages 5.7% but features double-digit gradients at the bottom before flattening out before the finish line.
Timings
Race
Start Time
Estimated Finish Time (Range)
Women’s Race
10:00 am
12:08 pm – 12:23 pm
Open Race
1:30 pm
4:17 pm – 4:33 pm
Riders to watch
TJ Smith Women’s Witheridge Grand Prix
Robyn Clay, DAS‑Hutchinson‑Brother UK’s standard‑bearer and the current Rapha Super-League and National Road Series leader, has ruled 2025. The 21‑year‑old from Yorkshire took a breakthrough UCI stage win at the Tour de Feminin in Czechia before soloing clear at June’s Alexandra Tour of the Reservoir to stretch her overall advantage in the National Road Series. She has since crushed the National Circuit Series, taking the overall honours. Clay’s blend of punch and kick makes her the rider the rest must unseat on Witheridge’s rolling lanes.
Robyn Clay (DAS-Hutchinson) with the Tour of the Reservoir. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Noémie Thomson, her team‑mate and only a year older, has elbowed her way into Britain’s front rank with a string of eye‑catching rides: solo wins in early‑season National B events, sixth at the Lincoln GP and runner‑up to Clay at the Reservoir. A relentless attacker and former triathlete, Thomson led the Rapha Super‑League for a spell and should relish the chance to open the taps on Devon’s sharp rises. Morven Yeoman completes DAS’s trio of young heavy‑hitters. Consistent top‑tens across road and crits – fourth in both Ilkley and Guildford town‑centre GPs, 14th at the nationals and ninth on Capernwray’s climbs – underline the 21‑year‑old’s all‑round talent. Expect Yeoman to police the moves for Clay and Thomson, yet seize any licence to slip clear herself.
Kate Richardson has spent 2025 hoovering up landmarks for Handsling Alba Development RT. Overall victory at May’s Tour de Feminin was followed by the British circuit race title in June. A National Road Series – Richardson won the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix last year – who can finish fast, the 22‑year‑old Scot should be in her element once the gradient bites.
Lucy Harris opened the year by soloing to CiCLE Classic glory, added fourth at the East Cleveland Classic. The Smurfit Westrock rider thrives when the racing turns attritional and will fancy her chances of thinning the field on Witheridge’s climbs – then punching again if a reduced sprint decides it.
Holly Ramsey, Hess Cycling’s 20‑year‑old puncheur, already owns National Road Series top fives at East Cleveland (second) and CiCLE (fourth). Light, lively and unafraid, Ramsey could be the spark for a decisive split on the steepest pitches.
Frankie Hall brings a traveller’s legs and a climber’s lungs. Hall won a mountain stage at the Tour of the Gila this spring, finished ninth overall and later animated the British nationals with a bold bridge to the leaders. If the tempo turns savage, Hall – 30 and racing for Praties – has the stamina to stay clear.
Madeline Cooper’s breakout year spans disciplines: BUCS road race champion, regional champion and a brace of podiums on the National Circuit Series. Now signed to Spectra Racing, the 21‑year‑old’s mix of climbing snap and finishing speed could carry her deep into contention if a small group reaches the line.
Anna Morris. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Anna Morris may be team‑less, but the Welsh pursuit star has been rampant in the crit scene with four series wins in July and a gritty second at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix back in May. At 27, she owns a monster engine and a lethal kick; if Witheridge comes down to a select bunch – or a solo gamble – Morris will be the name nobody wants to draw in the finale.
RD Johns Open Witheridge Grand Prix
With Rapha Super‑League leader Matt Bostock missing from the start‑list, the stage tilts invitingly towards the next wave of contenders eager to seize the spotlight.
Muc‑Off–SRCT–Storck have supplied much of the young firepower in 2025. Under‑23 prodigy Alex Beldon, now Matt Bostock’s nearest rival in the Rapha Super‑League, announced himself by winning the U23 National Series opener- the PB Performance Espoirs road race – and nearly pinched the Sheffield GP from Bostock in a two‑up dash. He also finished second to team‑mate Adam Howell at the Tour of the Reservoir and sixth at the Lincoln GP, underlining his podium pedigree. Howell, for his part, has been the season’s form rider: victory at the East Cleveland Classic set the tone, a crash‑defying triumph at the Reservoir extended his lead in the National Road Series, and the 20‑year‑old starts most races as the marked man. First‑year U23 Henry Hunter has joined the fun, too – the former Kendal CC rider soloed to a stage win on a sodden Mennock Pass and backed it up with 13th in East Cleveland, proof that his climbing bite already worries the seniors.
Adam Howell (MUC-OFF-SRCT-STORCK). Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Primera‑TeamJobs all‑rounder Josh Housley opened with seventh at East Cleveland, has been a regular in breakaways – witness his long turn off the front at the Kennel Hill Classic – and rarely finishes outside the top 20; if Witheridge ends in a reduced sprint, he has the punch to meddle with the favourites. Raptor Factory Racing’s Rowan Baker is made for grim days: fourth at the Reservoir after surviving crosswinds and splits, winner of the East Cleveland Classic in 2024 and vainquer by minutes on the final stage of the Peaks 2 Day, the gritty former rower will be on the hunt if the race turns attritional.
Wheelbase CabTech Castelli field a potent mix of youth and experience. National Circuit Series winner Tom Armstrong pairs city‑centre sharpness with road nous – sixth at East Cleveland, 19th in the Rapha Lincoln GP and third at the Dawlish Grand Prix show he can both hang tough and finish fast. Team‑mate Tom Martin was third on Saltburn Bank at the East Cleveland Classic, 14th at Lincoln and seventh at the Reservoir, combining climbing legs with a sprinter’s kick, while James McKay – the reigning Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix champion after outsprinting former WorldTour pro Alex Peters – oozes endurance and tactical poise.
Tom Martin (Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli). Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Charlie Genner, racing most of the year for Spanish amateur outfit Telco’m–On Clima–Osés, proved his mettle on Scottish hills with second on the key stage of the Mennock Pass Stage Race; if the weather turns, count him in. Former WorldTour stage winner Matthew Holmes, now combining road and gravel with One Good Thing–Factor, reminded everyone of his class by launching a late move at the Reservoir and brings a depth of experience that could wrong‑foot fresher legs.
Breakout acts have been thick on the ground this season, none more so than Alexander Ball of BCC RT. The Scot opened his year by winning the Gifford Road Race, pocketed the Scottish Student Criterium title and sprinted to 10th on the brutal Saltburn Bank at the East Cleveland Classic – a run of results that has catapulted him into the domestic top tier.
Finally, 360cycling’s 21‑year‑old Jake Edwards took fourth at the Capernwray National B and lit up the U23 opener with an audacious penultimate‑lap attack. He has ridden a string of French stage races recently, which should benefit his race sharpness and endurance. A dark horse, but one that will seize any chance to upset the established order.
The Devon lanes are calling. This Sunday, the inaugural Witheridge Grand Prix (Sunday 27 July) rolls out from the hilltop village of Witheridge, bringing National A racing back to the South West for the first time in over three decades.
A brand-new addition to the domestic calendar, the race doubles as Round 12 of the Rapha Super-League and marks the fourth and fifth rounds of the men’s and women’s National Road Series respectively. With the promise of full series points and a lumpy, leg-sapping circuit, the stage is set for fireworks across both races – and the absence of Super-League leader Matt Bostock only adds intrigue. Below, we take a closer look at what to expect.
Featured image: SWpix.com
What is it?
The Witheridge Grand Prix is the newest stop on the Lloyds Bank National Road Series and serves as Round 12 of the inaugural Rapha Super‑League. Rolling out this Sunday, 27 July 2025, from the hill-top village of Witheridge in Devon. Classified National A for both women and open categories, it brings Britain’s strongest Continental and Elite Development Team squads to a corner of the country more accustomed to tractors and tourists than team cars.
Witheridge slots in as Round 4 of the open and Round 5 of the women’s National Road Series, expanding the competition’s reach into the South West for the first time since the early‑1990s Premier Calendar era. Devon has not been starved of top‑flight cycling – the Tour of Britain last stormed Exeter High Street in 2021, and Barnstaple in 2018 – but those were stage‑race visits. Witheridge, by contrast, delivers a standalone road classic on Devon lanes.
The race is organised by the volunteer‑led South West Road Race Work Group – fronted by regional chair and event organiser Brian Johnston and Race Director Charlie Revell, with support from Witheridge Town Council and British Cycling South West.
Route
Devon does ‘rolling’ like Belgium does cobbles, and the Witheridge circuit is a master-class in unrelenting momentum swings. One lap measures 43 km with roughly 730 m of vertical gain – multiply that by two for the women and three for the open race and you have a leg-sapping total that will feel far longer than the maths suggests.
The women face two laps (85.6 km) while the open race tackles three (128.4 km), adding up to 1,460 m and 2,190 m of vertical gain respectively.
Seven kilometres in, Edgeworthy Hill snaps the field awake—little more than a kilometre long yet sharp enough to sting—before a swooping descent shuffles the pack like gravel in a tumbler.
The relief is short-lived. Nomansland Rise begins as a lazy false flat but, after Spurway Cross, tightens its grip for a kilometre and a half, nudging six per cent beneath oak canopy and stretching the line to breaking point. Ten kilometres later the race hits Rackenford Ridge, a near four-kilometre haul that grows meaner the higher it drags across open moor; if the cross-wind is blowing, gaps here turn instantly into chasms.
A helter-skelter plunge past the Mount Pleasant Inn offers seconds of free-wheeling before the road flicks cruel again: the B3137, dead-straight, 1.3 kilometres at a nagging five per cent and, sadistically, the official feed zone—soigneurs juggling bidons while riders juggle lactic acid.
Slate-roofed cottages announce the return to Witheridge, yet the finish hides behind one last sting: the school house ramp. This short sharp finale averages 5.7% but features double-digit gradients at the bottom before flattening out before the finish line.
Timings
Riders to watch
TJ Smith Women’s Witheridge Grand Prix
Robyn Clay, DAS‑Hutchinson‑Brother UK’s standard‑bearer and the current Rapha Super-League and National Road Series leader, has ruled 2025. The 21‑year‑old from Yorkshire took a breakthrough UCI stage win at the Tour de Feminin in Czechia before soloing clear at June’s Alexandra Tour of the Reservoir to stretch her overall advantage in the National Road Series. She has since crushed the National Circuit Series, taking the overall honours. Clay’s blend of punch and kick makes her the rider the rest must unseat on Witheridge’s rolling lanes.
Noémie Thomson, her team‑mate and only a year older, has elbowed her way into Britain’s front rank with a string of eye‑catching rides: solo wins in early‑season National B events, sixth at the Lincoln GP and runner‑up to Clay at the Reservoir. A relentless attacker and former triathlete, Thomson led the Rapha Super‑League for a spell and should relish the chance to open the taps on Devon’s sharp rises. Morven Yeoman completes DAS’s trio of young heavy‑hitters. Consistent top‑tens across road and crits – fourth in both Ilkley and Guildford town‑centre GPs, 14th at the nationals and ninth on Capernwray’s climbs – underline the 21‑year‑old’s all‑round talent. Expect Yeoman to police the moves for Clay and Thomson, yet seize any licence to slip clear herself.
Kate Richardson has spent 2025 hoovering up landmarks for Handsling Alba Development RT. Overall victory at May’s Tour de Feminin was followed by the British circuit race title in June. A National Road Series – Richardson won the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix last year – who can finish fast, the 22‑year‑old Scot should be in her element once the gradient bites.
Lucy Harris opened the year by soloing to CiCLE Classic glory, added fourth at the East Cleveland Classic. The Smurfit Westrock rider thrives when the racing turns attritional and will fancy her chances of thinning the field on Witheridge’s climbs – then punching again if a reduced sprint decides it.
Holly Ramsey, Hess Cycling’s 20‑year‑old puncheur, already owns National Road Series top fives at East Cleveland (second) and CiCLE (fourth). Light, lively and unafraid, Ramsey could be the spark for a decisive split on the steepest pitches.
Frankie Hall brings a traveller’s legs and a climber’s lungs. Hall won a mountain stage at the Tour of the Gila this spring, finished ninth overall and later animated the British nationals with a bold bridge to the leaders. If the tempo turns savage, Hall – 30 and racing for Praties – has the stamina to stay clear.
Madeline Cooper’s breakout year spans disciplines: BUCS road race champion, regional champion and a brace of podiums on the National Circuit Series. Now signed to Spectra Racing, the 21‑year‑old’s mix of climbing snap and finishing speed could carry her deep into contention if a small group reaches the line.
Anna Morris may be team‑less, but the Welsh pursuit star has been rampant in the crit scene with four series wins in July and a gritty second at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix back in May. At 27, she owns a monster engine and a lethal kick; if Witheridge comes down to a select bunch – or a solo gamble – Morris will be the name nobody wants to draw in the finale.
RD Johns Open Witheridge Grand Prix
With Rapha Super‑League leader Matt Bostock missing from the start‑list, the stage tilts invitingly towards the next wave of contenders eager to seize the spotlight.
Muc‑Off–SRCT–Storck have supplied much of the young firepower in 2025. Under‑23 prodigy Alex Beldon, now Matt Bostock’s nearest rival in the Rapha Super‑League, announced himself by winning the U23 National Series opener- the PB Performance Espoirs road race – and nearly pinched the Sheffield GP from Bostock in a two‑up dash. He also finished second to team‑mate Adam Howell at the Tour of the Reservoir and sixth at the Lincoln GP, underlining his podium pedigree. Howell, for his part, has been the season’s form rider: victory at the East Cleveland Classic set the tone, a crash‑defying triumph at the Reservoir extended his lead in the National Road Series, and the 20‑year‑old starts most races as the marked man. First‑year U23 Henry Hunter has joined the fun, too – the former Kendal CC rider soloed to a stage win on a sodden Mennock Pass and backed it up with 13th in East Cleveland, proof that his climbing bite already worries the seniors.
Primera‑TeamJobs all‑rounder Josh Housley opened with seventh at East Cleveland, has been a regular in breakaways – witness his long turn off the front at the Kennel Hill Classic – and rarely finishes outside the top 20; if Witheridge ends in a reduced sprint, he has the punch to meddle with the favourites. Raptor Factory Racing’s Rowan Baker is made for grim days: fourth at the Reservoir after surviving crosswinds and splits, winner of the East Cleveland Classic in 2024 and vainquer by minutes on the final stage of the Peaks 2 Day, the gritty former rower will be on the hunt if the race turns attritional.
Wheelbase CabTech Castelli field a potent mix of youth and experience. National Circuit Series winner Tom Armstrong pairs city‑centre sharpness with road nous – sixth at East Cleveland, 19th in the Rapha Lincoln GP and third at the Dawlish Grand Prix show he can both hang tough and finish fast. Team‑mate Tom Martin was third on Saltburn Bank at the East Cleveland Classic, 14th at Lincoln and seventh at the Reservoir, combining climbing legs with a sprinter’s kick, while James McKay – the reigning Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix champion after outsprinting former WorldTour pro Alex Peters – oozes endurance and tactical poise.
Charlie Genner, racing most of the year for Spanish amateur outfit Telco’m–On Clima–Osés, proved his mettle on Scottish hills with second on the key stage of the Mennock Pass Stage Race; if the weather turns, count him in. Former WorldTour stage winner Matthew Holmes, now combining road and gravel with One Good Thing–Factor, reminded everyone of his class by launching a late move at the Reservoir and brings a depth of experience that could wrong‑foot fresher legs.
Breakout acts have been thick on the ground this season, none more so than Alexander Ball of BCC RT. The Scot opened his year by winning the Gifford Road Race, pocketed the Scottish Student Criterium title and sprinted to 10th on the brutal Saltburn Bank at the East Cleveland Classic – a run of results that has catapulted him into the domestic top tier.
Finally, 360cycling’s 21‑year‑old Jake Edwards took fourth at the Capernwray National B and lit up the U23 opener with an audacious penultimate‑lap attack. He has ridden a string of French stage races recently, which should benefit his race sharpness and endurance. A dark horse, but one that will seize any chance to upset the established order.
Provisional startlist
TJ Smith Women’s Witheridge Grand Prix
RD Johns Open Witheridge Grand Prix
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