Eight years in the making: CiCLE secures new sector for 2026 and questions British Cycling’s commitment
A race that keeps reinventing itself - even after 20 years - and an organiser unafraid to call out British Cycling’. With new a 2026 sector and a bold critique of the system, CiCLE proves again why it stands alone.
Fresh from being named Domestic Race of the Year at the 2025 British Conti Awards, the Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic is already looking ahead. Race director Colin Clews has confirmed that the 2026 edition will feature a new finishing circuit around Oakham and the long-awaited addition of a further off-road “special sector” – a stretch he has spent eight years persuading a landowner to release. It marks the next step in the evolution of an event that has thrived for two decades.
Clews spoke to The British Continental shortly before the award announcement and was quick to emphasise that the honour belonged to the sponsors and volunteers who have carried the race since its inception.
But pride quickly gave way to reflection – on the race’s unique place in the UK calendar, and on how fragile that position remains.
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
The 2025 edition was always going to carry extra weight. After the 2024 race was cancelled due to extreme weather, anticipation had built through absence. When the race returned with fine conditions, a refreshed route and a new finish in Oakham, everything seemed to click. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” Clews said, describing how riders, teams, spectators and even locals reacted to the race’s return. “So many people realised what they had missed. With the new finish and excellent racing, everything just came together perfectly.”
Next year we will have a finishing circuit around Oakham, and a new ‘special sector’ with 25 kilometres to go
That sense of momentum will carry into 2026. Forced by roadworks to rethink the finish this year, the organisers discovered that the Oakham finale created a richer sense of theatre. It will now form the spine of a new finishing circuit. And further out on the course, the creation of a long-pursued special sector will add another layer of brutality to a race already notorious for its agricultural tracks and juddering farm lanes.
“This year it was a revamped finish forced by road works,” Clews says. “It worked well, so next year we will have a finishing circuit around Oakham, and a new ‘special sector’ with 25 kilometres to go. The latter having taken eight years of constant ‘asking’ the landowner before he has finally relented!”
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Innovation, for Clews, is not optional. It is the race’s principle of survival. “Never stand still,” he says. “Never take no for an answer. Always look for how the product can be improved.”
Clews asserts that the CiCLE Classic has survived – and prospered – not because British Cycling has nurtured it, but because he and his team have refused to let it stagnate. He is unflinchingly direct about this.
The CiCLE Classic has not received any funding or support from BC whatsoever over our 20 years
“The CiCLE Classic has not received any funding or support from BC whatsoever over our 20 years, and has been sustained by sponsorship from commercial companies with similar aims as ourselves in showing our sport in the best possible light,” he says, adding that “no senior officer, Board Member, or whoever from BC has attended the CiCLE over those 20 years.”
Asked to reflect on why more the CiCLE Classic has endured as a UCI race and why other races have not made the step, Clews expresses disappointment. “The step up from a National Series race to UCI 1.2 really isn’t that great,” he explains. “Perhaps only £10k more. But why would others do it? British Cycling provides no incentive.” For years, he notes, British Cycling even categorised the CiCLE Classic as a “foreign national” event – a classification he found baffling.
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
In Clews’ view, this lack of structural support explains why Britain has only one UCI one-day race. The economics are fragile, and the risks fall entirely on organisers; most races relying on local authority funding see the jump to UCI level as a leap too far. He has offered guidance to organisers who might consider following the CiCLE model, but without success to date.
“I would suggest that BC openly discourages any such move by any other independent organiser, which, coupled with reliance by most other races on local authority funding, most see the ‘hurdle’ as too big,” he reflects. “Since day one it has always been my wish that others would follow our lead, and I have offered advice and contacts as to how this can be done, but to no avail.”
I would suggest that BC openly discourages any such move by any other independent organiser
For Clews, the CiCLE Classic has never been simply a bike race. It is a community ritual, a showcase for the region, and a sporting identity in its own right. Villages like Owston – unknown to many before the race was born – have become landmarks of British cycling folklore. It is, in Clews’ words, “a race riders want to take part in,” and one where riders, in turn, make their own names. Ben Granger proved as much this year.
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
As Clews looks toward the 2026 race, his tone remains a mixture of pride and frustration: pride in what has been built against the grain, frustration that the support has not been there for others to build something similar. And yet his instinct, always, is forward – toward new sectors, new possibilities, and new ways to keep Britain’s only UCI 1.2 classic alive.
Alongside the elite men’s race, Clews promotes two other events under the CiCLE banner: the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic and the Junior CiCLE Classic. Both have become fixtures in their own right. They will run on 22 March in 2026.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Fresh from being named Domestic Race of the Year at the 2025 British Conti Awards, the Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic is already looking ahead. Race director Colin Clews has confirmed that the 2026 edition will feature a new finishing circuit around Oakham and the long-awaited addition of a further off-road “special sector” – a stretch he has spent eight years persuading a landowner to release. It marks the next step in the evolution of an event that has thrived for two decades.
Clews spoke to The British Continental shortly before the award announcement and was quick to emphasise that the honour belonged to the sponsors and volunteers who have carried the race since its inception.
But pride quickly gave way to reflection – on the race’s unique place in the UK calendar, and on how fragile that position remains.
The 2025 edition was always going to carry extra weight. After the 2024 race was cancelled due to extreme weather, anticipation had built through absence. When the race returned with fine conditions, a refreshed route and a new finish in Oakham, everything seemed to click. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” Clews said, describing how riders, teams, spectators and even locals reacted to the race’s return. “So many people realised what they had missed. With the new finish and excellent racing, everything just came together perfectly.”
That sense of momentum will carry into 2026. Forced by roadworks to rethink the finish this year, the organisers discovered that the Oakham finale created a richer sense of theatre. It will now form the spine of a new finishing circuit. And further out on the course, the creation of a long-pursued special sector will add another layer of brutality to a race already notorious for its agricultural tracks and juddering farm lanes.
“This year it was a revamped finish forced by road works,” Clews says. “It worked well, so next year we will have a finishing circuit around Oakham, and a new ‘special sector’ with 25 kilometres to go. The latter having taken eight years of constant ‘asking’ the landowner before he has finally relented!”
Innovation, for Clews, is not optional. It is the race’s principle of survival. “Never stand still,” he says. “Never take no for an answer. Always look for how the product can be improved.”
Clews asserts that the CiCLE Classic has survived – and prospered – not because British Cycling has nurtured it, but because he and his team have refused to let it stagnate. He is unflinchingly direct about this.
“The CiCLE Classic has not received any funding or support from BC whatsoever over our 20 years, and has been sustained by sponsorship from commercial companies with similar aims as ourselves in showing our sport in the best possible light,” he says, adding that “no senior officer, Board Member, or whoever from BC has attended the CiCLE over those 20 years.”
Asked to reflect on why more the CiCLE Classic has endured as a UCI race and why other races have not made the step, Clews expresses disappointment. “The step up from a National Series race to UCI 1.2 really isn’t that great,” he explains. “Perhaps only £10k more. But why would others do it? British Cycling provides no incentive.” For years, he notes, British Cycling even categorised the CiCLE Classic as a “foreign national” event – a classification he found baffling.
In Clews’ view, this lack of structural support explains why Britain has only one UCI one-day race. The economics are fragile, and the risks fall entirely on organisers; most races relying on local authority funding see the jump to UCI level as a leap too far. He has offered guidance to organisers who might consider following the CiCLE model, but without success to date.
“I would suggest that BC openly discourages any such move by any other independent organiser, which, coupled with reliance by most other races on local authority funding, most see the ‘hurdle’ as too big,” he reflects. “Since day one it has always been my wish that others would follow our lead, and I have offered advice and contacts as to how this can be done, but to no avail.”
For Clews, the CiCLE Classic has never been simply a bike race. It is a community ritual, a showcase for the region, and a sporting identity in its own right. Villages like Owston – unknown to many before the race was born – have become landmarks of British cycling folklore. It is, in Clews’ words, “a race riders want to take part in,” and one where riders, in turn, make their own names. Ben Granger proved as much this year.
As Clews looks toward the 2026 race, his tone remains a mixture of pride and frustration: pride in what has been built against the grain, frustration that the support has not been there for others to build something similar. And yet his instinct, always, is forward – toward new sectors, new possibilities, and new ways to keep Britain’s only UCI 1.2 classic alive.
Alongside the elite men’s race, Clews promotes two other events under the CiCLE banner: the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic and the Junior CiCLE Classic. Both have become fixtures in their own right. They will run on 22 March in 2026.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Share this:
Discover more from The British Continental
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.