2025 RTTC National Hill Climb Championships: report and results

Harry Macfarlane (Rule28 Outliers) produced a blistering ride of 2 minutes 14.7 seconds to retain his National Hill Climb Championship crown in dominant fashion up Bank Road on an afternoon where Rachel Galler (FTP Fulfil The Potential RT) claimed the women’s championship for the first time, beating three time champion Illi Gardner (Cardiff Ajax CC) to the prize.

Meanwhile Harry Hudson lit up an overcast Matlock in his rainbow jersey, the Junior World Road Race Champion adding a third straight Junior title to his growing palmares his final race for the Harrogate Nova RT, while Ruby Isaac (Tofuati Everyone Active) bounced back from injury to reclaim the junior women’s title she won on the Struggle in 2023. Christopher Scott of Le Col Race Team and Morgan Newberry of Loughborough Students CCC were the inaugural paracgcling champions.

Report

Women

Rachel Galler ended her excellent season in the finest way, claiming her first National Hill Climb championship as the only women to break the three minute mark on Bank Road.

Maria Holdcroft (Cowley Road Condors CC) was the best of the early starters, the indoor specialist’s time of 3.10.9, which put her in the lead, eventually enough for 5th place.

Her time was overthrown by Lucy Lee. The  DAS-Hutchinson rider, who entered the race as a relative hill climb novice, demonstrated what makes her one of Britain’s finest road racers, the Curlew Cup winner producing a steadfast effort, mostly seated, up the gruelling slopes to shave 3.3 seconds off the leading time.

With Lee’s teammate and silver medalist from 2024 Lizi Brooke failing to make an impact on the top of the timesheets, Maddie Heywood (Elevate RT) briefly set the quickest time with 3.04.6, a tough mark to beat with only Galler and Gardner remaining in the start area.

Galler, the penultimate rider to take on the climb, stormed up the steepest section through the large crowds, setting a strong tempo out of the saddle and driving to the line to become the first rider to dip under three minutes: 2.59.8 the mark for three time champion Illi Gardner to beat.

Gardner has made the event her own in recent years, the only reservations surrounding her quest for a fourth title the length of Bank Road making the effort required too explosive for her. Despite this, she powered up the climb in similar style to Galler, out the saddle with a grimace on her face, setting the fastest time at the halfway point. Sockless, with a baggy long sleeve jersey on, her lack of marginal gains may have ended up costing her as her effort faded in the final metres, however, a brave time of 3.01.8 only enough for the silver medal. 

At the presentation, Galler reflected on what the win meant to her and her team. “I’m proud to be taking the jersey back up north,” she said. “Thanks to everyone for their support — I couldn’t have got up that last bit without it.”

Open

With 460 starters, the favourites for the Open title were faced with a long wait to begin their ascent of Bank Road, the 834m climb ending in glory for one rider and a world of pain for the others.

Matt Holmes (Wigan Wheelers), clad in a skinsuit baring the logo of event sponsors OGT, was the first of the seeded riders off the line at a shade after 3pm, aggressively riding out of the saddle most of the way up as he set the then fastest time of the day of 2.26.5.

The biggest hitters were still to come, however, road racers turned hill climb specialists Ben Millar (Reflex Nopinz) and Gabe Dellar (Primera-TeamJobs) bettering Holmes’ time by just 0.1 and 2.1 seconds respectively.

As predicted, it would come down to a four way fight between the favourites for the title. The crowd, three deep at the steepest part of the hill, going wild as the first of those, Andrew Feather (HuntBikeWheels.com), the four time champion, danced up the 15% gradients with grace and seeming ease – his time of 2.20.4 setting a new benchmark. It was one Andrew Nichols (Team Lifting Gear Products) couldn’t match despite winning last week’s open event on the same climb, tapping out a good rhythm to finish just 0.3 seconds off Feather’s time.

The penultimate rider off the start ramp was Keiran Wynne-Cattanach (Team Lifting Gear Products), the Welshman heading into the competition as the Spindata number one and Dan Evans’ pick for the win. He would set a new fastest time at the top of the climb as the sun began to peek through, the first man under the 2.20 barrier with 2.19.8 the target for defending champion Harry MacFarlane. The crowd full of anticipation for the final rider of the day.

After playing up to being the underdog in his interview with The British Continental this week, Macfarlane arrived to the start line after his unconventional warm up, which involves wrapping a snood round his mouth and nose, looking every inch the champion, lean and powerful in his Rule28 Outliers skinsuit. Powering up the climb, mostly out of the saddle, he crossed the line over 5 seconds clear of Wynne-Cattanach, taking an emotional, and popular, second title with it.

Macfarlane was almost lost for words as he pulled on the national champion’s jersey. “It’s a great climb, it’s great to have it here, and it’s great to share the podium with such hitters,” he said, still catching his breath. “You may have seen the YouTube video I put out recently — it shows what you can do if you dedicate yourself to something.” It was a moment of vindication for the Rule 28 Outliers rider, whose journey from former smoker to national champion has captured the imagination of fans across the country.

Junior

The crowd expected. Harry Hudson duly delivered – the Sheffield rider making the most of his new found star attraction status, the 18-year-old dazzling fans with a display of speed the hill climb community now take for granted.

Clad in the rainbow jersey, the Junior World Road Race Champion stopped the clock in 2.20.8, bettering Ezra Bateman’s time of 2.27.0 by over six seconds. It was a strong ride from the Clifton CC York rider who, at only 15, looks to have a bright future ahead. It was a Hudson family affair on the podium with Harry’s younger brother Finley, another rider to watch in years to come, taking bronze, 14 seconds off his brother’s time.

In the Junior Women’s race it was Ruby Isaac who claimed a comeback win, the Junior National Road Race Champion dominating the field to claim a second Junior Hill Climb title after coming back from injury following a crash. It was a test which the Tofuati Everyone Active rider passed with flying colours, driving up the climb in a big gear to set a time of 3.24.6.

Local rider Phoebe Langlands (Matlock CC) caused an upset, using her local knowledge to finish with the silver medal, 15 seconds back, while Ayeha Vose (Shibden Cycling Club) pipped defending champion and teammate Maia Howell to the bronze medal, 3 seconds further back.

Para

In the paracycling category – a first for the national hill climb championships – the titles went to Christopher Scott of Le Col Race Team and Morgan Newberry of Loughborough Students Cycling Club.

Scott set the benchmark with a powerful 3 minutes 16 seconds on Matlock’s steep Bank Road to claim the Open victory, while Newberry impressed with a composed 4 minutes flat to take the women’s crown.

Results

Results for the top 50 in each category only.

Women

Pos	Name	Time	Club Name	Cat	Cat Position
1	Rachel Galler	02:59.8	Ftp ( Fulfil The Potential ) Race Team	Senior	1
2	Illi Gardner	03:01.8	Cardiff Ajax Cc	Senior	2
3	Madeleine Heywood	03:04.6	Elevate Rt	Senior	3
4	Lucy Lee	03:07.6	Das Hutchinson	Senior	4
5	Maria Holdcroft	03:10.9	Cowley Road Condors Cc	Senior	5
6	Hannah Clough	03:13.3	University Of Nottingham C C	Espoir	1
7	Lizi Brooke	03:13.9	Das Hutchinson	Senior	6
8	Lucy Deschamps	03:15.1	Elevate Rt	D	1
9	Christina Wiejak	03:19.7	Magspeed Racing	Senior	7
10	Ellen Reynolds	03:20.1	Elevate Rt	Senior	8
11	Charlotte Dalton	03:21.8	Elevate Rt	Senior	9
12	Isabel Rodriguez	03:23.3	Warwick Lanterne Rouge Cycling Club	Senior	10
13	Cat Macintosh	03:23.3	Knights London	Senior	11
14	Lucy Havard	03:28.1	Cambridge University Cc	Senior	12
15	Anna Boniface	03:29.7	Ftp ( Fulfil The Potential ) Race Team	Senior	13
16	Sannah Zaman	03:30.2	Cj Oshea	Espoir	2
17	Emma Leslie	03:31.0	University Of Bath Cycling Club	Espoir	3
18	Rebecca Richardson	03:34.5	Team Lifting Gear Products	Senior	14
19	Rebekah Hendrickse	03:40.8	Emc Cycling	Senior	15
20	Natalie Stevenson	03:42.8	Glasgow Ivy Cc	A	1
21	Jenny Holl	03:42.9	Stirling Bike Club	Senior	16
22	Sara Willhoit	03:45.2	Paramount Crt	Senior	17
23	Eluned King	03:45.7	Alba Development Road Team	Senior	18
24	Sarah Wilkinson	03:46.3	Blaydon Cc	D	2
25	Bea Wood	03:48.1	Elevate Rt	Espoir	4
26	Connie Hayes	03:50.4	Cj Oshea	Senior	19
27	Becky Hair	03:50.7	Ftp ( Fulfil The Potential ) Race Team	Senior	20
28	Anastasia Bowler	03:51.4	Ftp ( Fulfil The Potential ) Race Team	Senior	21
29	Emily Lockwood	03:51.5	Chippenham & District Wheelers	Senior	22
30	Georgia Huddleston
31	Gemma Mitchell	03:54.5	Ftp ( Fulfil The Potential ) Race Team	B	1
32	Bronwen Jenkinson	03:54.6	Clwb Beicio Egni Eryri	Senior	24
33	Anna Watkinson-Powell	03:55.9	7 Hills Cycling Club	Senior	25
34	Lydia Baxter	03:56.1	Ftp ( Fulfil The Potential ) Race Team	Senior	26
35	Lois Brewer	04:01.0	Ystwyth Cc	Senior	27
36	Michelle Lewis	04:01.1	Peckham Cycle Club	A	2
37	Alice Larkin	04:02.4	High Peak Cycles Rt	C	1
38	Elspeth Chatto	04:03.6	Blaydon Cc	Senior	28
39	Jennifer Lemen	04:04.2	Pdq Cycle Coaching	Senior	29
40	Emily Alderson	04:05.2	Loughborough Students Cycling Club	Senior	30
41	Sarah Harrison	04:05.3	Team Sheffield	C	2
42	Josie Harcourt	04:06.3	Ftp ( Fulfil The Potential ) Race Team	Senior	31
43	Lilja Raine	04:06.4	Loughborough Students Cycling Club	Espoir	5
44	Eleanor Dixon	04:09.5	Ftp ( Fulfil The Potential ) Race Team	Senior	32
45	Tina Lohr	04:12.9	Horsham Cycling	B	2
46	Francesca Leveton	04:16.3	Huddersfield Star Whs	Senior	33
47	Tammy Lewis-Jones	04:21.6	Clwb Beicio Egni Eryri	D	3
48	Ellen Rham	04:22.4	Assos Uk Race Team	Senior	34
49	Sally Maitland	04:24.6	Beeston Cycling Club	D	4
50	Isabella Ash	04:25.0	Tactic Sport Uk Race Team	Senior	35

Open

Pos	Name	Time	Club Name	Cat	Cat Position
1	Harry Macfarlane	02:14.7	Rule 28 Outliers	Senior	1
2	Kieran Wynne-Cattanach	02:19.8	Team Lifting Gear Products	Senior	2
3	Andrew Feather	02:20.4	Huntbikewheels.Com	A	1
4	Andy Nichols	02:20.7	Team Lifting Gear Products	Senior	3
5	Gabe Dellar	02:24.4	Primera-Teamjobs	Senior	4
6	Ben Millar	02:26.4	Reflex Racing	Senior	5
7	Matthew Holmes	02:26.5	Wigan Whs Cc	Senior	6
8	Matthew Ferguson	02:31.1	Redhill Cc	Senior	7
9	Charlie Mactear	02:31.3	73 Degrees Bicycles, WestSide Coaching rt	Senior	8
10	Angus Toms	02:31.4	Edinburgh Bike Fitting Rt	Senior	9
11	Kirk Vickers	02:31.8	Dave Scott Coaching	Senior	10
12	David Fellows	02:32.0	Solihull Cc	Senior	11
13	Rob Walker	02:32.1	Wardperformanceuk.Com	Senior	12
14	Josh Coyne	02:32.4	Elevate Rt	Senior	13
15	Matthew Brown	02:32.7	University Of Nottingham C C	Espoir	1
16	Ross Howcroft-Jones	02:33.1	Team Lifting Gear Products	Senior	14
17	Harvey Weinberger	02:33.3	As Test Team	Senior	15
18	Callum Stewart	02:33.8	East London Velo	A	2
19	Alex Raynard	02:34.5	Macclesfield Wheelers	Senior	16
20	George Spooner	02:35.4	Cambridge University Cc	Senior	17
21	William Salter	02:35.7	Yeovil Cycling Club	Espoir	2
22	Kishan Bakrania	02:36.0	Arctic Aircon Rt	Senior	18
23	Cormac Nisbet	02:36.3	University Of Nottingham C C	Espoir	3
24	Cameron Orr	02:36.4	Matlock Cc	Senior	19
25	Edward Copeland	02:36.7	Ludlow Brewery Race Team	Senior	20
26	Dan Evans	02:37.2	Assos Uk Race Team	A	3
27	Ryan Oldam	02:37.2	Elevate Rt	Senior	21
28	David Sheldon	02:37.4	Solihull Cc	Senior	22
29	Tobi Ng	02:38.9	Team Pb Performance	Senior	23
30	Max Duckworth	02:39.0	Southborough & Dist. Whs	Espoir	4
31	Harvey Thomas	02:39.9	Reflex Racing	Espoir	5
32	Sam Carrotte	02:41.1	Edinburgh Bike Fitting Rt	Espoir	6
33	James Hayward	02:41.7	Woolwich Cc	B	1
34	Joshua Hall	02:42.2	Elevate Rt	Espoir	7
35	Tom Heal	02:42.4	Raptor Factory Racing	Senior	24
36	Adam Pinder	02:42.5	Muckle Cycle Club	Senior	25
37	Matthew Skeats	02:42.9	Myhillcycling.Co.Uk	Senior	26
38	Barnabas Pickford	02:43.2	University Of Nottingham C C	Senior	27
39	Rowan Brackston	02:43.4	Charlotteville Cycling Club	Senior	28
40	Arion Oates	02:43.5	Pdq Cycle Coaching	Senior	29
41	Nicholas Latimer	02:43.6	Team Lifting Gear Products	A	4
42	Tim Bodey	02:44.0	Hub Velo	Senior	30
43	Michael Henderson	02:45.2	Oxford University Cc	Espoir	8
44	Nicholas Candy	02:45.9	Finchley Rt	Senior	31
45	Sebastian Sturges	02:47.0	7 Hills Cycling Club	Senior	32
46	George Stephen	02:47.2	University Of Nottingham C C	Espoir	9
47	Bobby Buenfeld	02:47.4	Velo Club Venta	Espoir	10
48	William Collie	02:47.9	Elevate Rt	Senior	33
49	Russell Powell	02:48.2	Sid Valley Cc	A	5
50	Daniel Keegan	02:48.2	Cestria C.C.	Senior	34

Junior

Women

Pos	Name	Time	Club Name
23	Ruby Isaac	03:24.6	Tofauti Everyone Active
29	Phoebe Langlands	03:39.1	Matlock Cc
34	Ayesha Vose	03:42.7	Shibden Cycling Club
35	Maia Howell	03:43.9	Shibden Cycling Club
36	Rianna Mahoney	03:45.9	4T+ Cyclopark
37	Olivia Smallshaw	03:46.3	Secret Training Cc
39	Helen Stevenson	03:48.0	Cwmcarn Paragon Cycling Club
40	Flavia Hitchings	03:50.0	Southborough & Dist. Whs
46	Olivia Marriott	04:01.5	Derby Mercury R C
47	Boo Williams	04:02.3	Royal Albert Cycling Club
51	Seraphina Green	04:20.0	Trek Sheffield
55	Alice Tulett	05:00.0	Thanet Rc
57	Isla Bestwick	05:09.7	Esv Manchester
58	Sophie Wood	05:11.4	Elevate Rt
62	Heidi Eyers	06:09.3	Matlock Cc
64	Ruby Miller	06:20.5	Matlock Cc
65	Lucy Proctor	07:45.2	Matlock Cc

Open

Pos	Name	Time	Club Name
1	Harry Hudson	02:20.8	Harrogate Nova Race Team
2	Ezra Bateman	02:27.0	Clifton Cc York
3	Finley Hudson	02:34.7	Harrogate Nova Race Team
4	Oliver Swinburn	02:39.0	Velo Club Lincoln
5	Matthew Fletcher	02:47.3	Harrogate Nova Race Team
6	Cesare Masset	02:49.9	Brighton Mitre Cc
7	Daniel Middlebrooke	02:50.3	Otley Cc
8	Alfie Nott	02:52.0	Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy
9	Freddie Winkley	02:55.8	Secret Training Cc
10	Harley Widdowson	02:56.7	Tofauti Everyone Active
11	Isaac Pressley	02:57.2	Clifton Cc York
12	James Bacon	02:57.2	Team M.I. Racing Townsend Vehicle Hire
13	Alexander Stuart	02:59.8	Zephyr Cycling Club
14	Tristan Davies Bennett	02:59.9	Barnsley Road Club
15	Noah Starbuck	03:03.1	Sleaford Wheelers Cycling Club
16	Jamie Brough	03:06.8	Matlock Cc
17	Ed Stubbs	03:07.3	3C Test Team
18	Rocco Schumacher	03:08.2	Huub Wattshop
19	Ethan Hull	03:13.4	Lakes Road Club
20	Charlie Brennan	03:16.8	360cycling
21	Ben Cleave	03:17.0	Cardiff Ajax Cc
22	Joshua Ball	03:21.0	Derby Mercury R C
24	Leo Mullen	03:29.5	Royal Albert Cycling Club
25	Ren Baty	03:30.7	Vc De Londres
26	Douglas Tulett	03:34.3	Thanet Rc
27	Patrick Kavanagh	03:35.3	Harrogate Nova Cc
28	Miles Foord	03:38.9	Velo Club Long Eaton
30	Riley Mahoney	03:39.4	4T+ Cyclopark
31	Finn Miller	03:39.8	Matlock Cc
32	Joshua Bradbury	03:40.1	Manchester Wheelers
33	Stanley Perkins	03:41.5	Matlock Cc
38	Max Westwood	03:46.5	Esv Manchester
41	Noah Zaman	03:55.5	Myhillcycling.Co.Uk
42	Theo Firth	03:55.9	East Bradford Cc
43	Earl Robinson	03:57.5	Esv Manchester
44	Owen Smart	03:59.0	Myhillcycling.Co.Uk
45	Franz Sharman	04:01.4	Matlock Cc
48	Frederick Farr	04:05.2	Matlock Cc
49	George Roberts	04:07.6	Avid Sport
50	George Anthony	04:19.3	Matlock Cc

Para

Women

Pos	Name	Time	Club Name
2	Morgan Newberry	04:00.1	Loughborough Students Cycling Club
7	Amelia Cass	04:41.8	Loughborough Students Cycling Club

Open

Pos	Name	Time	Club Name
1	Christopher Scott	03:16.3	Le Col Race Team
3	Mark Staples	04:08.5	Lone Wolf Racing
4	Zac Rogers	04:16.2	Team PB Performance
5	Darren Miller	04:21.8
6	Wayne Holton	04:29.8	Welland Valley Cc
8	Rik Waddon	04:52.9	Chester Rc