Thirty-five teams. Twenty editions. And — eight years in the asking — a new stretch of private farm track that drops into the finale of Britain’s only one-day UCI road race with around 28 kilometres to go.
The 2026 Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic returns to Oakham on Sunday 26 April as the opening round of the open Rapha Super-League and the 20th edition of an event that was named The British Continental‘s Domestic Race of the Year only four months ago. Here is our route preview. A riders-to-watch breakdown will follow once the organisers’ 72-hour startlist lands.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
What is it?
Twenty years after its first edition, the Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic remains a category of one on the British calendar: a UCI 1.2 one-day race, part farm-track classic, part rolling road race across the lanes of Rutland and east Leicestershire. Alongside the Tour of Britain, it is one of only two men’s UCI races on UK soil — and the only one contested in a single day.
The 2026 edition, the race’s 18th as a fully international event, is once again sponsored by Sigma Sports and Schwalbe UK, with ANEXO and CAMS joining as presentational supporters. Race director Colin Clews, who has led the event since its inception, has long described its longevity as a product of refusing to stand still. The 2026 route changes — a new off-road sector and a formalised finishing circuit around Oakham — carry that logic forward.
Often likened in casual terms to the cobbled Belgian classics, CiCLE sits closer in spirit to Brittany’s Tro-Bro Léon: rural roads, farm tracks, muddy or dusty depending on the year, and a finale where riding position matters at least as much as pure power. Past winners include Malcolm Elliott, who won aged 45, Conor Dunne, Zak Dempster, and Ian Wilkinson, the only rider to have won it twice. Ben Granger (Mg.K VIS Colors for Peace VPM) took the 2025 edition for his first UCI victory, soloing clear inside the final five kilometres after a selection forged on the Somerberg.
For a race that was washed out before it started in 2024, the scale of the rebound has been striking. Last April’s edition drew 33 teams — then a record. This year’s field of 176 riders across 35 teams, drawn from 15 nations, is the largest the race has ever assembled.
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Route
Last year’s start and finish in Oakham was a response to roadworks in Melton Mowbray — a fix that worked well enough for Clews to keep it. For 2026, the Oakham finale has been formalised into a 12-kilometre finishing circuit, which sits on top of an expanded 185-kilometre route taking in 11 categorised off-road sectors and six categorised climbs.
Setting off from Oakham’s High Street at 11.00, the peloton heads north to Wymondham for three fast passes beneath the village’s landmark windmill on Butt Lane — the opening King of the Windmill sprints, and an early chance to shape the day’s hierarchy. The first loop also takes in the Mataberg, a 1.6-kilometre four-star farm-track sector at 26 km, where a tight farmyard entry and steep climb have produced early splits in previous editions.
The riders drop back into Oakham at 48 km for the Oakham Wines hot spot sprint — and, shortly after, the town’s working level crossing, which organisers acknowledge could stop the race if a train is passing. From there, the route turns south towards Cold Overton for the day’s first categorised climb. The Barleyberg, once an off-road sector but now paved, sits on the way.
Then Owston: the race’s spiritual hub, where the crowd gathers, a Kwaremont-sponsored bar hums, and the peloton flicks in and out of the surrounding lanes repeatedly, hitting the Somerberg and Manorberg sectors from multiple angles.
The Manorberg deserves a closer look, because it doesn’t behave the same way on every pass. The first two passages cover just the 700-metre farmyard stretch. The later passes — sector 4 on the third lap, and sector 6 in reverse — extend into the rougher run-up to the feed zone, stretching to 2.2 and 1.8 kilometres respectively. The effect is cumulative. What looks early in the race like a short technical test becomes, by the third and fourth visits, a meaningful drag on anyone already hurting.
No.
Name
Race distance
Length
Severity
12
Mataberg
26.41 km
1,600 m
****
Barleyberg
50.02 km
1,100 m
**
10
Somerberg
66.98 km
2,200 m
****
9
Manorberg (Pass 1)
78.75 km
700 m
****
8
Manorberg (Pass 2)
94.41 km
700 m
****
7
Somerberg
109.28 km
2,200 m
*****
6
Manorberg (Reverse)
112.56 km
1,800 m
****
5
Newboldberg
123.84 km
1,200 m
**
4
Manorberg (Pass 3)
132.01 km
2,200 m
****
3
Somerberg (Reverse)
136.51 km
2,100 m
*****
2
Stapleberg
147.74 km
2,200 m
*****
1
Canalberg (new for 2026)
157.58 km
1,400 m
****
Categorised off-road sectors. Severity rated 1–5 stars by the organisers. Barleyberg is no longer classified as a sector since being resurfaced, and so is unnumbered.
The Somerberg — a 2.2-kilometre stretch of rough farm track hit three times, twice forwards and once in reverse — is widely considered the race’s pivotal sector. It thins the peloton dramatically and has a habit of producing the decisive selection: last year’s winning move came out of a group forged there, and most previous editions have followed a similar pattern.
The late-race pattern will feel familiar until, this year, it doesn’t. Cuckoo Berg at 144 km, the Stapleberg sector through Stapleford Park at 147 km — and then, new for 2026, the Canalberg: a 1.4-kilometre off-road sector on private land, four-star severity, at 157 km. The sector is the product of eight years of the race director asking the same landowner the same question before he finally relented ahead of this year’s race. Clews called it “a new special sector with 25 kilometres to go” when he announced it in December; the technical guide has it slightly further out, at around 28 km from the finish.
Where Stapleberg has long been the final genuine attacking moment before the run for home, Canalberg re-opens that window several kilometres later. Whether that makes a decisive late solo more or less likely is one of the more interesting tactical questions of this year’s edition. The sector sits within the Stapleford estate alongside Stapleberg — all gated off from the public outside of race weekend, and accessible to teams only for a narrow recon window on Saturday afternoon.
No.
Location
Race distance
Points
1
Cold Overton Berg (Pass 1)
62.56 km
5, 3, 1
2
Burrough Berg (Pass 1)
73.93 km
5, 3, 1
3
Burrough, Melton Lane
90.70 km
5, 3, 1
4
Cold Overton Berg (Pass 2)
105.47 km
5, 3, 1
5
Burrough Berg (Pass 3)
116.54 km
5, 3, 1
6
Cuckoo Berg
144.46 km
5, 3, 1
King of the Bergs climbs.
From there, the new finishing circuit takes over. The peloton crosses the line in Oakham Market Place for the first time at 173 km, before heading out past Burley-on-the-Hill and Barnsdale on a 12-kilometre loop and returning through Oakham Station to the finish proper at roughly 186 km.
As the opening round of the open Rapha Super-League, the first significant points of the 2026 league go on the line on Sunday. A larger field only sharpens the fight for position on the early sectors and the likelihood of early splits. Last year’s edition produced just 74 classified finishers; there is no reason to expect a kinder attrition rate this time.
For spectators
Few races in Britain reward spectating the way the CiCLE Classic does. The route’s circular structure and the repeated passes through key villages give the enthusiast — by the organisers’ estimate — somewhere between 15 and 20 places to catch the race over the course of the day. Timing is the only real constraint: road closures come in ahead of the peloton, and once the race is on the move there is little margin for driving between viewing spots.
Oakham Market Place is the natural anchor. The team presentation runs from around 9.50, the start proper rolls out of the High Street at 11.00, and the first passage of the finish line comes back through at roughly 15.15 before the new finishing circuit and the actual finish at approximately 15.30. Wymondham, within the first hour, offers five passes of the village in around 35 minutes — the windmill on Butt Lane is the best single vantage point, with three of the day’s Hot Spot sprints contested there and refreshments nearby at the Berkeley Arms.
Owston is where the day’s atmosphere lives. The village sees six passes of the race over roughly two hours, with a live commentary point, a BBQ, and the Kwaremont-sponsored bar; the Manorberg sector runs directly through it, and spectator parking is signposted. For the climbs, Cold Overton Berg and Burrough Berg both see multiple passes, with the final Cold Overton ascent arriving mid-afternoon. Stapleford Park, accessible to the public only in the latter stages of the race, sees the Mataberg and, in the finale, Stapleberg, in quick succession.
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Title sponsor Rapha will have its H Van pitched at the feed zone on Newbold Road, serving coffee and handing out cowbells to anyone passing. The race takes the feed zone at roughly 73, 92 (in reverse, no feeding), 114 and 125 km, so it’s a viewing spot that earns its keep four times over.
Parking on the narrow lanes around Owston and Burrough on the Hill is tight; the organisers ask spectators to use signposted car parks and follow any instructions from marshals. Traffic around Oakham is likely to be disrupted between 15.00 and 16.00, so anyone hoping to see the finish should aim to arrive early. In the town centre, the Rutland Morris Men are scheduled to perform during the day and cycling activities are planned for the afternoon. A fuller spectator guide is available from cicleclassic.co.uk.
Timings
Official start: 11.00, High Street, Oakham. First passage of the finish line: approximately 15.15. Finish proper: approximately 15.30, Oakham Market Place.
How to follow
We will be at the roadside on Sunday. You can follow along with the action on our Instagram stories from 9.30. Monument Cycling will also run a free ‘watch-party stream’ from 13.30 on its YouTube channel and at tv.monumentcycling.com.
A riders-to-watch breakdown will follow once the organisers’ 72-hour startlist is confirmed later this week.
Thirty-five teams. Twenty editions. And — eight years in the asking — a new stretch of private farm track that drops into the finale of Britain’s only one-day UCI road race with around 28 kilometres to go.
The 2026 Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic returns to Oakham on Sunday 26 April as the opening round of the open Rapha Super-League and the 20th edition of an event that was named The British Continental‘s Domestic Race of the Year only four months ago. Here is our route preview. A riders-to-watch breakdown will follow once the organisers’ 72-hour startlist lands.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
What is it?
Twenty years after its first edition, the Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic remains a category of one on the British calendar: a UCI 1.2 one-day race, part farm-track classic, part rolling road race across the lanes of Rutland and east Leicestershire. Alongside the Tour of Britain, it is one of only two men’s UCI races on UK soil — and the only one contested in a single day.
The 2026 edition, the race’s 18th as a fully international event, is once again sponsored by Sigma Sports and Schwalbe UK, with ANEXO and CAMS joining as presentational supporters. Race director Colin Clews, who has led the event since its inception, has long described its longevity as a product of refusing to stand still. The 2026 route changes — a new off-road sector and a formalised finishing circuit around Oakham — carry that logic forward.
Often likened in casual terms to the cobbled Belgian classics, CiCLE sits closer in spirit to Brittany’s Tro-Bro Léon: rural roads, farm tracks, muddy or dusty depending on the year, and a finale where riding position matters at least as much as pure power. Past winners include Malcolm Elliott, who won aged 45, Conor Dunne, Zak Dempster, and Ian Wilkinson, the only rider to have won it twice. Ben Granger (Mg.K VIS Colors for Peace VPM) took the 2025 edition for his first UCI victory, soloing clear inside the final five kilometres after a selection forged on the Somerberg.
For a race that was washed out before it started in 2024, the scale of the rebound has been striking. Last April’s edition drew 33 teams — then a record. This year’s field of 176 riders across 35 teams, drawn from 15 nations, is the largest the race has ever assembled.
Route
Last year’s start and finish in Oakham was a response to roadworks in Melton Mowbray — a fix that worked well enough for Clews to keep it. For 2026, the Oakham finale has been formalised into a 12-kilometre finishing circuit, which sits on top of an expanded 185-kilometre route taking in 11 categorised off-road sectors and six categorised climbs.
Setting off from Oakham’s High Street at 11.00, the peloton heads north to Wymondham for three fast passes beneath the village’s landmark windmill on Butt Lane — the opening King of the Windmill sprints, and an early chance to shape the day’s hierarchy. The first loop also takes in the Mataberg, a 1.6-kilometre four-star farm-track sector at 26 km, where a tight farmyard entry and steep climb have produced early splits in previous editions.
The riders drop back into Oakham at 48 km for the Oakham Wines hot spot sprint — and, shortly after, the town’s working level crossing, which organisers acknowledge could stop the race if a train is passing. From there, the route turns south towards Cold Overton for the day’s first categorised climb. The Barleyberg, once an off-road sector but now paved, sits on the way.
Then Owston: the race’s spiritual hub, where the crowd gathers, a Kwaremont-sponsored bar hums, and the peloton flicks in and out of the surrounding lanes repeatedly, hitting the Somerberg and Manorberg sectors from multiple angles.
The Manorberg deserves a closer look, because it doesn’t behave the same way on every pass. The first two passages cover just the 700-metre farmyard stretch. The later passes — sector 4 on the third lap, and sector 6 in reverse — extend into the rougher run-up to the feed zone, stretching to 2.2 and 1.8 kilometres respectively. The effect is cumulative. What looks early in the race like a short technical test becomes, by the third and fourth visits, a meaningful drag on anyone already hurting.
The Somerberg — a 2.2-kilometre stretch of rough farm track hit three times, twice forwards and once in reverse — is widely considered the race’s pivotal sector. It thins the peloton dramatically and has a habit of producing the decisive selection: last year’s winning move came out of a group forged there, and most previous editions have followed a similar pattern.
The late-race pattern will feel familiar until, this year, it doesn’t. Cuckoo Berg at 144 km, the Stapleberg sector through Stapleford Park at 147 km — and then, new for 2026, the Canalberg: a 1.4-kilometre off-road sector on private land, four-star severity, at 157 km. The sector is the product of eight years of the race director asking the same landowner the same question before he finally relented ahead of this year’s race. Clews called it “a new special sector with 25 kilometres to go” when he announced it in December; the technical guide has it slightly further out, at around 28 km from the finish.
Where Stapleberg has long been the final genuine attacking moment before the run for home, Canalberg re-opens that window several kilometres later. Whether that makes a decisive late solo more or less likely is one of the more interesting tactical questions of this year’s edition. The sector sits within the Stapleford estate alongside Stapleberg — all gated off from the public outside of race weekend, and accessible to teams only for a narrow recon window on Saturday afternoon.
From there, the new finishing circuit takes over. The peloton crosses the line in Oakham Market Place for the first time at 173 km, before heading out past Burley-on-the-Hill and Barnsdale on a 12-kilometre loop and returning through Oakham Station to the finish proper at roughly 186 km.
As the opening round of the open Rapha Super-League, the first significant points of the 2026 league go on the line on Sunday. A larger field only sharpens the fight for position on the early sectors and the likelihood of early splits. Last year’s edition produced just 74 classified finishers; there is no reason to expect a kinder attrition rate this time.
For spectators
Few races in Britain reward spectating the way the CiCLE Classic does. The route’s circular structure and the repeated passes through key villages give the enthusiast — by the organisers’ estimate — somewhere between 15 and 20 places to catch the race over the course of the day. Timing is the only real constraint: road closures come in ahead of the peloton, and once the race is on the move there is little margin for driving between viewing spots.
Oakham Market Place is the natural anchor. The team presentation runs from around 9.50, the start proper rolls out of the High Street at 11.00, and the first passage of the finish line comes back through at roughly 15.15 before the new finishing circuit and the actual finish at approximately 15.30. Wymondham, within the first hour, offers five passes of the village in around 35 minutes — the windmill on Butt Lane is the best single vantage point, with three of the day’s Hot Spot sprints contested there and refreshments nearby at the Berkeley Arms.
Owston is where the day’s atmosphere lives. The village sees six passes of the race over roughly two hours, with a live commentary point, a BBQ, and the Kwaremont-sponsored bar; the Manorberg sector runs directly through it, and spectator parking is signposted. For the climbs, Cold Overton Berg and Burrough Berg both see multiple passes, with the final Cold Overton ascent arriving mid-afternoon. Stapleford Park, accessible to the public only in the latter stages of the race, sees the Mataberg and, in the finale, Stapleberg, in quick succession.
Title sponsor Rapha will have its H Van pitched at the feed zone on Newbold Road, serving coffee and handing out cowbells to anyone passing. The race takes the feed zone at roughly 73, 92 (in reverse, no feeding), 114 and 125 km, so it’s a viewing spot that earns its keep four times over.
Parking on the narrow lanes around Owston and Burrough on the Hill is tight; the organisers ask spectators to use signposted car parks and follow any instructions from marshals. Traffic around Oakham is likely to be disrupted between 15.00 and 16.00, so anyone hoping to see the finish should aim to arrive early. In the town centre, the Rutland Morris Men are scheduled to perform during the day and cycling activities are planned for the afternoon. A fuller spectator guide is available from cicleclassic.co.uk.
Timings
Official start: 11.00, High Street, Oakham. First passage of the finish line: approximately 15.15. Finish proper: approximately 15.30, Oakham Market Place.
How to follow
We will be at the roadside on Sunday. You can follow along with the action on our Instagram stories from 9.30. Monument Cycling will also run a free ‘watch-party stream’ from 13.30 on its YouTube channel and at tv.monumentcycling.com.
A riders-to-watch breakdown will follow once the organisers’ 72-hour startlist is confirmed later this week.
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