Record 35-team field set for Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic
A record 35-team field — the largest in the race's history — lines up in Oakham on Sunday 26 April for the 20th Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic and the opening round of the open Rapha Super-League.
Two years after it was washed out before the start, the Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic returns on Sunday 26 April with the biggest field it has ever assembled. Thirty-five teams will roll out of Oakham for the 20th edition of Britain’s only one-day UCI road race — two more than the previous record, set a year ago — in a sign of the event’s continued pull on a domestic scene with few UCI opportunities of its own.
A record 35 teams will line up for the 20th edition of the Sigma Sports / Schwalbe UK Rutland–Melton International CiCLE Classic on Sunday 26 April, in what will also serve as the opening round of the open Rapha Super-League.
The expanded field is the largest in the race’s history — up from 33 teams in 2025, itself a record at the time. The 2024 edition was cancelled before the start due to extreme weather.
The CiCLE Classic remains the only one-day UCI road race held in the UK, a status that gives it a particular weight within the domestic calendar. For riders and teams, it is one of the few opportunities to test themselves in a UCI environment without leaving the country.
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Full list of teams
From the organiser’s confirmed start list, the 35 teams are:
Last year’s edition was won by Ben Granger (Mg.K VIS Colors for Peace VPM), who soloed clear inside the final five kilometres to take his first UCI victory. It was a race that fractured early across the off-road sectors, with the decisive selection forged on the Somerberg — a telling illustration of how the CiCLE Classic tends to make itself.
That context only sharpens the significance of this year’s edition. As the only one-day UCI race in the UK, the CiCLE Classic occupies a space no other event currently fills — a bridge between domestic racing and the demands of the international calendar.
As the opening round of the open Rapha Super-League, it does so with immediate consequence. Points are on offer, but the race rarely rewards calculation. A larger field increases the fight for position and the likelihood of early splits; the presence of Continental teams adds structure, but not control.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Two years after it was washed out before the start, the Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic returns on Sunday 26 April with the biggest field it has ever assembled. Thirty-five teams will roll out of Oakham for the 20th edition of Britain’s only one-day UCI road race — two more than the previous record, set a year ago — in a sign of the event’s continued pull on a domestic scene with few UCI opportunities of its own.
A record 35 teams will line up for the 20th edition of the Sigma Sports / Schwalbe UK Rutland–Melton International CiCLE Classic on Sunday 26 April, in what will also serve as the opening round of the open Rapha Super-League.
The expanded field is the largest in the race’s history — up from 33 teams in 2025, itself a record at the time. The 2024 edition was cancelled before the start due to extreme weather.
The CiCLE Classic remains the only one-day UCI road race held in the UK, a status that gives it a particular weight within the domestic calendar. For riders and teams, it is one of the few opportunities to test themselves in a UCI environment without leaving the country.
Full list of teams
From the organiser’s confirmed start list, the 35 teams are:
Field composition
A race that defines itself
Last year’s edition was won by Ben Granger (Mg.K VIS Colors for Peace VPM), who soloed clear inside the final five kilometres to take his first UCI victory. It was a race that fractured early across the off-road sectors, with the decisive selection forged on the Somerberg — a telling illustration of how the CiCLE Classic tends to make itself.
That context only sharpens the significance of this year’s edition. As the only one-day UCI race in the UK, the CiCLE Classic occupies a space no other event currently fills — a bridge between domestic racing and the demands of the international calendar.
As the opening round of the open Rapha Super-League, it does so with immediate consequence. Points are on offer, but the race rarely rewards calculation. A larger field increases the fight for position and the likelihood of early splits; the presence of Continental teams adds structure, but not control.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
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