2026 ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic: preview and startlist
The 2026 Rapha Super-League begins on Sunday 22 March at the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic, as the opening round brings 105 riders to Melton Mowbray for one of the most distinctive and demanding races on the British calendar.
The 2026 Rapha Super-League begins on Sunday 22 March at the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic, as the opening round brings 105 riders to Melton Mowbray for one of the most distinctive and demanding races on the British calendar.
Also the first round of the Women’s National Road Series, the 10th edition of the race once again draws together the full breadth of the domestic scene – from established elite riders and leading domestic teams to some of the most exciting junior talent in the country – for a race that rarely rewards anything but strength, nerve and good judgement.
The British Continental’s National Road Series previews are powered by Topp Cycling.
What is it?
The Women’s CiCLE Classic holds a place on the British calendar that no other race can quite claim. This is not a race decided on tarmac alone. Farm tracks, gravel sectors ridden in both directions and parkland roads all shape the outcome, punishing poor positioning and exposing hesitation. It remains the closest thing British racing has to a spring classic, and not just in appearance.
Promoted by Colin Clews and his volunteer-led team under the CiCLE Classic banner, the women’s race was established in 2016 after a sustained push from the women’s peloton to race the same distinctive terrain as the elite men. Its move from summer to March in 2023 sharpened that identity further. As an early-season test, it now feels even closer to the Belgian races it invites comparison with: unpredictable conditions, roads still marked by winter, and a premium on resilience as much as speed. The day’s programme begins earlier with the junior men’s race, round two of the Junior Open National Road Series.
This year’s edition also opens the women’s 2026 Rapha Super-League, the season-long competition that gives domestic road racing something close to an overall title race. Supported by Rapha, the league rewards consistency across the calendar, with points accumulated at each qualifying round. That gives CiCLE added weight. As the opening race, it does more than offer the first points on the board; it sets an early tone and begins to shape the way the season’s contenders are seen.
Image: Mathew Wells/SWpix.com
The race is sponsored by the Anexo Group PLC and CAMS, whose title backing has secured the event’s future since 2022. Dame Laura Kenny’s name is carried on the winner’s trophy, recognising her longstanding personal support. The prize list – £1,000 to the winner, with awards down to 20th place – remains the largest on the domestic women’s calendar.
Its roll of honour offers a neat map of the modern domestic scene: Rebecca Durrell won the inaugural edition in 2016, followed by Katie Archibald, Neah Evans and Emily Nelson. After the 2020 cancellation, Abi Smith returned in 2021 to win by the biggest margin in the race’s history after a 40-kilometre solo move. Josie Nelson took the 2022 edition, Jessica Finney won in 2023, Eluned King in 2024, and Lucy Harris last year with a decisive late attack.
Route
The race starts and finishes in Melton Mowbray, spanning 105 kilometres across three distinct phases through the lanes and farm tracks of Rutland and East Leicestershire. The course divides into three sections: an opening phase on wider roads out of town; a demanding middle section introducing the race’s most punishing terrain; and a closing phase – revised significantly for 2026 – that places the decisive off-road sectors later and harder than in any previous edition.
The key sectors, and their ratings, are as follows:
Sector
Distance
Rating
Newbold Manor
1,100m
★★
Manor Farm (and reverse)
700m
★★★★
Somerberg (and reverse)
2,200m
★★★★★
Stapleford Park (×2)
2,200m
★★★★
The opening phase rolls out from Sherrard Street on a 2.7-kilometre neutralised section before racing begins just short of Burton Lazers. Riders then tackle the Owston–Burrough circuit in the direction established since 2021 – reversed from the pre-2021 layout, meaning sharp inclines arrive immediately after tight corners, regularly demanding near-standstill handling. BurroughBerg, the first categorised climb and Queen of the Bergs point, comes at 17.6 kilometres. Manor Farm follows at 26.6 kilometres, Cold Overton Berg at 35.4 kilometres, and Somerberg – the race’s most demanding sector at five stars, ridden twice, in both directions – at 40.8 kilometres.
The middle phase brings Somerberg Reverse at 67.4 kilometres, and with it the point at which the race has historically begun to fracture. It is through here that the front group thins each year, the accumulated toll of the farm tracks and repeated climbs separating those who can hold position from those who cannot.
The 2026 change falls in the closing phase, and it is significant. Organisers have added a second passage through Stapleford Park – the parkland estate on the edge of Melton Mowbray, included with the agreement of Lord and Lady Gretton – placing it at around 97 kilometres, just 8 kilometres from the finish. A first passage comes at 81 kilometres; a fourth and final Queen of the Bergs point at CuckooBerg at 92.6 kilometres follows before the decisive second Stapleberg at 96.9 kilometres. Race organiser Colin Clews described the thinking behind the change when The British Continental reported the revision in January: the additional sector increases the number of off-road kilometres late in the race, at a point where fatigue has fully accumulated, and places technical difficulty directly in the path of any survivor who might otherwise hold on to a group finish.
The finishing circuit will again be bypassed – as in 2025, ongoing roadworks in and around Melton make its reintroduction uncertain. After the final Stapleberg passage the race descends Burton Road before reaching the finish on Sherrard Street via Mill Lane and Regent Road.
Weather
The weather looks kind as it stands, with sunny intervals and a gentle breeze. With little rain forecast in the days leading up to the race, dust is more likely to be a problem than rain, mud and disguised potholes.
Timings
The race begins at 14.00 from Sherrard Street, Melton Mowbray, with a neutralised roll-out along Burton Road. Approximate finish time is 17.00, with the podium presentation at Melton Market Place immediately after.
How to follow
The British Continental will be on the ground in Melton Mowbray. Follow us on Instagram for race-day updates, rider interviews, and coverage from the roadside as the action unfolds. A full report and results will be published on the site on Sunday evening.
Contenders
The obvious place to begin is with Lucy Harris. Last year’s winner returns in different colours, now riding for Draft Racing rather than Smurfit Westrock, but the case for her is stronger rather than weaker. Harris won this race with a perfectly judged late move twelve months ago and arrives here off an excellent Peak 2 Day, where she finished second overall behind Anna Morris after taking second in the opening time trial and making the decisive selection on stage two. CiCLE rewards riders who can hold their nerve, read a race properly and commit at exactly the right moment. Harris has already shown she can do all three.
Lucy Harris celebrates the win in 2025. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
All four UCI Continental teams on the Women’s CiCLE Classic start list are also set to race the Midwest Cycling Classic in Belgium on the same day, a UCI 1.1 clash that helps explain why none of them are here at full strength. That matters particularly when reading squads like DAS-Hutchinson, Smurfit Westrock, Handsling Alba and Red Chilli O’Shea: there is still plenty of quality on the start line, but not necessarily every card those teams might otherwise have played
DAS–Hutchinson are the strongest domestic women’s team in British road racing, and their presence at CiCLE is felt accordingly. The only UCI team to field a full complement of eight riders, they have multiple genuine options for the result, and the collective discipline to make a chase very difficult for anyone who escapes. Alice McWilliam is the name that stands out: she finished second here in 2025, taking the bunch sprint after Harris went clear. Lucy Lee is one of the most consistent performers on the domestic circuit, a rider whose value to a team extends well beyond her own results. Morven Yeoman, still in her U23 years, comes in with fresh form after sixth overall at the Peak 2 Day; she offers DAS–Hutchinson the kind of punch on short ramps that this course repeatedly demands. Josie Knight, Tammy Miller, Libby Smithson, Ellie Parry, and Sophie Lewis fill out a squad with the depth to cover every move that matters.
Smurfit Westrock do not have their deepest possible hand here, but they remain dangerous. Lucy Gadd won the Peak 2 Day overall last spring and was one of the most aggressive riders in this race a year ago, taking the QOM competition after forcing the issue repeatedly. On a course like this, where brute force still has to be paired with resilience and positioning, she makes obvious sense. Alice Colling, meanwhile, brings the kind of handling and punch that ought to translate well to a race that is never quite a standard road race.
Anna Flynn wins the 2026 Lloyds National Cyclo-Cross Championships. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Handsling Alba Development Road Team bring only four riders, but there is enough there to matter. Anna Flynn is an especially interesting fit for this race. The current British elite cyclo-cross champion, she brings exactly the sort of off-road handling, punch and appetite for hard, technical racing that CiCLE tends to reward. Madeline Cooper is also a rider with cyclo-cross experience, but it was her road consistency that really stood out last year: she was a regular top-ten finisher across the National Road Series and ended the 2025 Rapha Super-League third overall. She is not the most obvious headline name on the list, but this is the sort of race that can reward riders with more durability and versatility than profile.
Katie Scott is a rider who warrants mention after a strong opening weekend of domestic road racing. The Paralloy RT rider was in the front group on stage one of the Peak 2 Day and backed that up with third place on stage two on Sunday, exactly the sort of immediate and relevant form that is hard to ignore before a race like this. CiCLE is rarely won on form alone, but riders arriving already deep in race rhythm tend to matter. Jessica Roberts is also worth a mention. The former British road race champion brings far more than just experience: she has elite track pedigree, including world and Olympic team pursuit medals, and remains highly competitive on the road. Third at last year’s national circuit race championships, 12th in the national road race championships, and ninth on stage one of the Peak 2 Day this weekend, she has the class and race craft to matter if Sunday’s race opens up.
The junior field is strong enough to deserve more than a passing mention. There has never been a junior winner of the Women’s CiCLE Classic, but this looks like one of those years when the idea does not feel far-fetched. Zoe Roche (camsmajaco) is perhaps the most intriguing of the lot. Her winter gave her profile, but her road form is beginning to catch up with it: she finished fourth at the Piccolo Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the junior Nations Cup race, on Sunday, a result that reads very well in this field.
Zoe Roche at the 2026 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Mabli Phillips is another junior to watch. A Shibden Apex rider, the Welsh rider will be in Team Wales colours this weekend. She was sixth at the Clásica de Jaén junior Nations Cup in February and then 24th at the Piccolo Trofeo Alfredo Binda on Sunday. She looks one of the juniors most likely to cope if the race turns hard and selective rather than merely scrappy. Ruby Isaac (camsmajaco) also merits inclusion. She may not yet have the same 2026 UCI result as Roche or Phillips, but she is already racing at that level and comes in with a strong domestic pedigree as last year’s junior national road race champion.
One rider whose current form deserves more emphasis than her profile perhaps brings is Lily Martin. The former rower has already shown she is learning the road game quickly, but her Peak 2 Day was the clearest indication yet that she can be genuinely competitive in hard domestic racing: fourth in the opening time trial, present in the key moves on stage two, and fourth overall when the race was curtailed. On form alone, she warrants inclusion among the more serious outsiders rather than as a developmental curiosity. Ella Maclean-Howell is one of the more intriguing names on the list. Best known as a mountain biker, she is not a pure road rider in the conventional sense, but CiCLE has never been a conventional road race. The technical demands, repeated changes of rhythm and need to stay composed on rougher surfaces all play to her strengths. Maclean-Howell finished 16th at the 2025 Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix against a strong field, and her off-road background gives her a skillset that could become very relevant.
Monica Greenwood remains an interesting and dangerous presence whenever she returns to this scene. She was runner-up here in 2023 and has the tactical intelligence to read a race like this better than most. She may not be the first name people jump to, but CiCLE has a habit of rewarding riders who understand how to stay calm while the race falls apart around them. Greenwood fits that description. And then there is Abigail Miller (UAE Development Team). In her first year as an under-23, she comes with a high-end junior pedigree on both road and track, and if she has made the step up cleanly enough over the winter she is the sort of rider who could move quickly from interesting name to genuine factor. Her exact place in the race hierarchy is harder to judge than some others, but she is emphatically not one to ignore.
The 2026 Rapha Super-League begins on Sunday 22 March at the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic, as the opening round brings 105 riders to Melton Mowbray for one of the most distinctive and demanding races on the British calendar.
Also the first round of the Women’s National Road Series, the 10th edition of the race once again draws together the full breadth of the domestic scene – from established elite riders and leading domestic teams to some of the most exciting junior talent in the country – for a race that rarely rewards anything but strength, nerve and good judgement.
The British Continental’s National Road Series previews are powered by Topp Cycling.
What is it?
The Women’s CiCLE Classic holds a place on the British calendar that no other race can quite claim. This is not a race decided on tarmac alone. Farm tracks, gravel sectors ridden in both directions and parkland roads all shape the outcome, punishing poor positioning and exposing hesitation. It remains the closest thing British racing has to a spring classic, and not just in appearance.
Promoted by Colin Clews and his volunteer-led team under the CiCLE Classic banner, the women’s race was established in 2016 after a sustained push from the women’s peloton to race the same distinctive terrain as the elite men. Its move from summer to March in 2023 sharpened that identity further. As an early-season test, it now feels even closer to the Belgian races it invites comparison with: unpredictable conditions, roads still marked by winter, and a premium on resilience as much as speed. The day’s programme begins earlier with the junior men’s race, round two of the Junior Open National Road Series.
This year’s edition also opens the women’s 2026 Rapha Super-League, the season-long competition that gives domestic road racing something close to an overall title race. Supported by Rapha, the league rewards consistency across the calendar, with points accumulated at each qualifying round. That gives CiCLE added weight. As the opening race, it does more than offer the first points on the board; it sets an early tone and begins to shape the way the season’s contenders are seen.
The race is sponsored by the Anexo Group PLC and CAMS, whose title backing has secured the event’s future since 2022. Dame Laura Kenny’s name is carried on the winner’s trophy, recognising her longstanding personal support. The prize list – £1,000 to the winner, with awards down to 20th place – remains the largest on the domestic women’s calendar.
Its roll of honour offers a neat map of the modern domestic scene: Rebecca Durrell won the inaugural edition in 2016, followed by Katie Archibald, Neah Evans and Emily Nelson. After the 2020 cancellation, Abi Smith returned in 2021 to win by the biggest margin in the race’s history after a 40-kilometre solo move. Josie Nelson took the 2022 edition, Jessica Finney won in 2023, Eluned King in 2024, and Lucy Harris last year with a decisive late attack.
Route
The race starts and finishes in Melton Mowbray, spanning 105 kilometres across three distinct phases through the lanes and farm tracks of Rutland and East Leicestershire. The course divides into three sections: an opening phase on wider roads out of town; a demanding middle section introducing the race’s most punishing terrain; and a closing phase – revised significantly for 2026 – that places the decisive off-road sectors later and harder than in any previous edition.
The key sectors, and their ratings, are as follows:
The opening phase rolls out from Sherrard Street on a 2.7-kilometre neutralised section before racing begins just short of Burton Lazers. Riders then tackle the Owston–Burrough circuit in the direction established since 2021 – reversed from the pre-2021 layout, meaning sharp inclines arrive immediately after tight corners, regularly demanding near-standstill handling. BurroughBerg, the first categorised climb and Queen of the Bergs point, comes at 17.6 kilometres. Manor Farm follows at 26.6 kilometres, Cold Overton Berg at 35.4 kilometres, and Somerberg – the race’s most demanding sector at five stars, ridden twice, in both directions – at 40.8 kilometres.
The middle phase brings Somerberg Reverse at 67.4 kilometres, and with it the point at which the race has historically begun to fracture. It is through here that the front group thins each year, the accumulated toll of the farm tracks and repeated climbs separating those who can hold position from those who cannot.
The 2026 change falls in the closing phase, and it is significant. Organisers have added a second passage through Stapleford Park – the parkland estate on the edge of Melton Mowbray, included with the agreement of Lord and Lady Gretton – placing it at around 97 kilometres, just 8 kilometres from the finish. A first passage comes at 81 kilometres; a fourth and final Queen of the Bergs point at CuckooBerg at 92.6 kilometres follows before the decisive second Stapleberg at 96.9 kilometres. Race organiser Colin Clews described the thinking behind the change when The British Continental reported the revision in January: the additional sector increases the number of off-road kilometres late in the race, at a point where fatigue has fully accumulated, and places technical difficulty directly in the path of any survivor who might otherwise hold on to a group finish.
The finishing circuit will again be bypassed – as in 2025, ongoing roadworks in and around Melton make its reintroduction uncertain. After the final Stapleberg passage the race descends Burton Road before reaching the finish on Sherrard Street via Mill Lane and Regent Road.
Weather
The weather looks kind as it stands, with sunny intervals and a gentle breeze. With little rain forecast in the days leading up to the race, dust is more likely to be a problem than rain, mud and disguised potholes.
Timings
The race begins at 14.00 from Sherrard Street, Melton Mowbray, with a neutralised roll-out along Burton Road. Approximate finish time is 17.00, with the podium presentation at Melton Market Place immediately after.
How to follow
The British Continental will be on the ground in Melton Mowbray. Follow us on Instagram for race-day updates, rider interviews, and coverage from the roadside as the action unfolds. A full report and results will be published on the site on Sunday evening.
Contenders
The obvious place to begin is with Lucy Harris. Last year’s winner returns in different colours, now riding for Draft Racing rather than Smurfit Westrock, but the case for her is stronger rather than weaker. Harris won this race with a perfectly judged late move twelve months ago and arrives here off an excellent Peak 2 Day, where she finished second overall behind Anna Morris after taking second in the opening time trial and making the decisive selection on stage two. CiCLE rewards riders who can hold their nerve, read a race properly and commit at exactly the right moment. Harris has already shown she can do all three.
All four UCI Continental teams on the Women’s CiCLE Classic start list are also set to race the Midwest Cycling Classic in Belgium on the same day, a UCI 1.1 clash that helps explain why none of them are here at full strength. That matters particularly when reading squads like DAS-Hutchinson, Smurfit Westrock, Handsling Alba and Red Chilli O’Shea: there is still plenty of quality on the start line, but not necessarily every card those teams might otherwise have played
DAS–Hutchinson are the strongest domestic women’s team in British road racing, and their presence at CiCLE is felt accordingly. The only UCI team to field a full complement of eight riders, they have multiple genuine options for the result, and the collective discipline to make a chase very difficult for anyone who escapes. Alice McWilliam is the name that stands out: she finished second here in 2025, taking the bunch sprint after Harris went clear. Lucy Lee is one of the most consistent performers on the domestic circuit, a rider whose value to a team extends well beyond her own results. Morven Yeoman, still in her U23 years, comes in with fresh form after sixth overall at the Peak 2 Day; she offers DAS–Hutchinson the kind of punch on short ramps that this course repeatedly demands. Josie Knight, Tammy Miller, Libby Smithson, Ellie Parry, and Sophie Lewis fill out a squad with the depth to cover every move that matters.
Smurfit Westrock do not have their deepest possible hand here, but they remain dangerous. Lucy Gadd won the Peak 2 Day overall last spring and was one of the most aggressive riders in this race a year ago, taking the QOM competition after forcing the issue repeatedly. On a course like this, where brute force still has to be paired with resilience and positioning, she makes obvious sense. Alice Colling, meanwhile, brings the kind of handling and punch that ought to translate well to a race that is never quite a standard road race.
Handsling Alba Development Road Team bring only four riders, but there is enough there to matter. Anna Flynn is an especially interesting fit for this race. The current British elite cyclo-cross champion, she brings exactly the sort of off-road handling, punch and appetite for hard, technical racing that CiCLE tends to reward. Madeline Cooper is also a rider with cyclo-cross experience, but it was her road consistency that really stood out last year: she was a regular top-ten finisher across the National Road Series and ended the 2025 Rapha Super-League third overall. She is not the most obvious headline name on the list, but this is the sort of race that can reward riders with more durability and versatility than profile.
Katie Scott is a rider who warrants mention after a strong opening weekend of domestic road racing. The Paralloy RT rider was in the front group on stage one of the Peak 2 Day and backed that up with third place on stage two on Sunday, exactly the sort of immediate and relevant form that is hard to ignore before a race like this. CiCLE is rarely won on form alone, but riders arriving already deep in race rhythm tend to matter. Jessica Roberts is also worth a mention. The former British road race champion brings far more than just experience: she has elite track pedigree, including world and Olympic team pursuit medals, and remains highly competitive on the road. Third at last year’s national circuit race championships, 12th in the national road race championships, and ninth on stage one of the Peak 2 Day this weekend, she has the class and race craft to matter if Sunday’s race opens up.
The junior field is strong enough to deserve more than a passing mention. There has never been a junior winner of the Women’s CiCLE Classic, but this looks like one of those years when the idea does not feel far-fetched. Zoe Roche (camsmajaco) is perhaps the most intriguing of the lot. Her winter gave her profile, but her road form is beginning to catch up with it: she finished fourth at the Piccolo Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the junior Nations Cup race, on Sunday, a result that reads very well in this field.
Mabli Phillips is another junior to watch. A Shibden Apex rider, the Welsh rider will be in Team Wales colours this weekend. She was sixth at the Clásica de Jaén junior Nations Cup in February and then 24th at the Piccolo Trofeo Alfredo Binda on Sunday. She looks one of the juniors most likely to cope if the race turns hard and selective rather than merely scrappy. Ruby Isaac (camsmajaco) also merits inclusion. She may not yet have the same 2026 UCI result as Roche or Phillips, but she is already racing at that level and comes in with a strong domestic pedigree as last year’s junior national road race champion.
One rider whose current form deserves more emphasis than her profile perhaps brings is Lily Martin. The former rower has already shown she is learning the road game quickly, but her Peak 2 Day was the clearest indication yet that she can be genuinely competitive in hard domestic racing: fourth in the opening time trial, present in the key moves on stage two, and fourth overall when the race was curtailed. On form alone, she warrants inclusion among the more serious outsiders rather than as a developmental curiosity. Ella Maclean-Howell is one of the more intriguing names on the list. Best known as a mountain biker, she is not a pure road rider in the conventional sense, but CiCLE has never been a conventional road race. The technical demands, repeated changes of rhythm and need to stay composed on rougher surfaces all play to her strengths. Maclean-Howell finished 16th at the 2025 Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix against a strong field, and her off-road background gives her a skillset that could become very relevant.
Monica Greenwood remains an interesting and dangerous presence whenever she returns to this scene. She was runner-up here in 2023 and has the tactical intelligence to read a race like this better than most. She may not be the first name people jump to, but CiCLE has a habit of rewarding riders who understand how to stay calm while the race falls apart around them. Greenwood fits that description. And then there is Abigail Miller (UAE Development Team). In her first year as an under-23, she comes with a high-end junior pedigree on both road and track, and if she has made the step up cleanly enough over the winter she is the sort of rider who could move quickly from interesting name to genuine factor. Her exact place in the race hierarchy is harder to judge than some others, but she is emphatically not one to ignore.
Provisional startlist
Featured image: SWpix.com
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