2026 East and West Midlands Regional Championships: preview and startlists
A new, punchy Knipton circuit hosts the East and West Midlands championships for the first time; a loop built for attrition rather than a single decisive climb, with both the open and women's titles there to be won.
On Sunday 31 May, the East and West Midlands Regional Championships head to Woolsthorpe for a day of National B racing on the new Knipton circuit near Belvoir Castle: technical, punchy, and unlikely to give the bunch many cheap kilometres. Now a familiar pairing on the calendar, the two championships are held simultaneously for the fourth time, and for the fourth consecutive year under the promotion of the University of Nottingham Cycling Club and the Yomp Bonk Crew.
The East and West Midlands Regional Championships have run as a paired event since 2023, two regional titles decided in one race over a shared circuit. The University of Nottingham Cycling Club and Yomp Bonk Crew co-promote, supported by sponsors Fusion Media (the title sponsor of the women’s race) and Velo Bavarian. The women’s race also incorporates the North East, North West and Yorkshire regional championships.
Riders carry coloured number stickers to mark their region — yellow for East Midlands, green for West Midlands, purple for Yorkshire, red for North West, blue for North East — and the regional podiums are decided from within each colour. The overall, open to all comers, is the headline result and the one most racing watchers will track. The women roll out at 9:00, with a finish expected around 12:00; the open race starts at 14:00 and should conclude near 17:00.
The race has moved venue several times in recent seasons. Adam Lewis and Ella Tandy won the event in 2024 on the Hose circuit. Twelve months later, Lewis returned to win again on Windley Hill ahead of Caleb Pain and Oliver Dawson, while Madeline Cooper powered clear on the final ascent to take the women’s race and the Yorkshire regional title, ahead of Mika Söderström and defending champion Tandy. This year’s edition is the first to actually be raced on the Knipton roads.
The route
The Knipton course is not a headline-climb circuit. There is no Windley Hill-style set piece, no obvious wall that forces the decisive split, no final ramp that writes the tactics for everyone. Instead, the damage should come by accumulation. The lap measures 13.9km with 134m of climbing, so the women’s seven laps (97km) take in around 940m of elevation, and the open’s nine laps (125km) around 1,200m.
Knipton is a course where momentum, positioning and repeated accelerations matter more than pure climbing pedigree. The lap begins with a gentle rise for the first 3km, passing the popular Café Allez, so the opening kilometres will be well-charted territory for many in the field rather than virgin tarmac. The course then plunges down the first of two quick descents into Knipton, swiftly followed by two kickers. The first is particularly steep and, sitting roughly halfway around the lap, likely to be a launch pad for attacks in the closing stages. The second comes with 4km to go, where the race takes in a left-hand hairpin in Denton that will be a pinch-point for any larger groups. In the closing kilometres the race dives down a steep descent to a finish line just beyond its foot.
On paper, it favours riders who can ride hard over the top of a rise, keep pressing on the false flats, and still have something left after three hours of pressure. Yet anything is possible, as this will be the first race to run on the loop.
With the forecast building from around 19°C by midday, riders should face fewer heat-related challenges than over the recent bank holiday, when temperatures exceeded 30°C. That said, feeding will remain important and riders must stay on top of their hydration. There is also a chance of a stiff crosswind on the longest drag and the opening descent.
Riders to watch
Fusion Media East and West Midlands (and Northern) Women’s Championships
The women’s field is 27 riders deep, but it has enough quality and enough small-team intrigue to make the race difficult to control. No team has overwhelming numbers. Team Empella and Jadan Glasdon p/b Vive le Velo bring three riders apiece; FTP–Fulfil The Potential Racing and Loughborough Lightning have two each.
The obvious name on the startlist is Ella Tandy (Simpson Nouvelles). She won this race overall in 2024, also taking the West Midlands crown, and returned in 2025 to finish 3rd in the overall women’s race while retaining the West Midlands title. Now 19 and in her first season with Simpson Nouvelles, her 2026 has already taken in 2nd at the Florrie Newbery Classic and a top-fifteen at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix. If it comes down to a reduced group, she has already shown she can finish off a hard regional championship.
Tandy wins in 2024. Image: Emma Wilcock
Freya Taylor (Jadan Glasdon p/b Vive le Velo) is arguably the form rider in the field. New to Jadan Glasdon for 2026 from Team Empella, she opened her season with 7th at the London Academy Easter Road Race and 5th at the Florrie Newbery Classic — two punchy National B results in successive weeks. With Ruth Dunstan and Abbie Taylor alongside her, Jadan Glasdon arrive with a strong collective.
Evie Smith, in her debut road season for Redchilli Bikes O’Shea Racing, recently showed her repeatable punch, placing 8th at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix and taking a podium at the Witham Hall Grand Prix. She is one to watch.
Rosie Simmons gives Loughborough Lightning a genuine contender. New to the squad for 2026 after two seasons at Brother UK–OnForm, she has been a regular in the top fifteen this spring: 16th at Capernwray, 11th at the Florrie Newbery, 9th at Witham Hall, and 12th at Banbury Star. She finished 10th here in 2025. With Georgina Oakley alongside her – 9th in this race last year – the Lightning pair should feature prominently.
Hannah Clough gives the promoting club, University of Nottingham CC, a genuine card to play. She finished 6th in last year’s edition, in a race where the decisive front group came back together late before the final selection was made. 12th overall at the Peak 2 Day in March, with two top-fifteen stage finishes on the way, is her best result so far in 2026.
Sian Botteley adds another dimension. Now with Brother UK–OnForm after a 2025 with Smurfit Westrock, she opened the season with 18th at the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic. On a circuit that rewards riders who can hold a high pace through repeated climbs, she fits the profile.
East and West Midlands Opens Championships
The open race has more teams arriving with larger numbers, so expect a proper war of attrition. BCC Race Team and DAS Richardsons both arrive with five riders, Halesowen A&CC bring four, while Wold Top Pactimo and TAAP Kalas each have three. That matters: on a circuit with little respite between the climbs, numbers can be as valuable as legs.
Still, the race starts with one unavoidable question: how do you beat Adam Lewis?
Lewis wins the 2025 title. Image: Chris McKnight
Lewis, now with the US-based UCI Continental team APS Pro Cycling, won in 2024 and returned in 2025 to win again, making his decisive move on the final climb of the Windley circuit. He returns this year fresh off the Rás Tailteann, where he wore the yellow jersey for a day, finished 4th overall, and was in the day-long breakaway on the final stage into Dunboyne — racing that has come on the back of his maiden UCI win at the Tour of the Gila earlier this year. Knipton is a different kind of test from any of those, but it is still long enough and hard enough for the strongest rider to impose himself if the race is allowed to come back together.
The two riders who finished closest to Lewis in 2025 are both back, and both arrive in form. Caleb Pain was 2nd last year, the only rider strong enough to bridge to Lewis in the closing kilometres of Windley Hill. He has built his 2026 in similar shape — 10th overall at the Peak 2 Day in March, with a 7th on stage one. Alongside him at RideRevolution Coaching, Josh Housley is the more decorated of the pair, and arguably the most in-form rider in the field. He has been on the podium at the Timmy James Memorial Grand Prix, 5th at the East Cleveland Classic, and 10th overall at the Peak 2 Day, all within the last two months. Twice a Capernwray winner and a prior winner of the East Midlands Championship, he is likely to be marked from the gun.
DAS Richardsons may be the strongest collective in the field. William Perrett won last Sunday’s GA Bennett Road Race, just 30 minutes from Knipton, and was 4th at the Timmy James Memorial the week before; he was also 8th overall at the Peak 2 Day. Matthew Lord, returning to DAS in 2026 after a year in France with Team Bricquebec Cotentin, was 3rd at Capernwray, 5th overall at the Peak 2 Day, and 9th at the Timmy James. With Cai Davies (8th here in 2025), Pete Cocker and Piers Mahn (20th in 2025) alongside, DAS arrive with five riders and two genuine podium candidates — racing on home roads.
Perrett crosses the line with arms aloft at the GA Bennett road race. Image: Joe Hudson
BCC Race Team match those numbers and bring a different kind of weapon. George Stephen, who is racing on roads close to the University of Nottingham where he studies, was 5th here in 2025 and is the latest contributor to our journal series. Lewis Tinsley, the highest-ranked U23 in the field, returns having taken third overall at the Peak 2 Day in March. Add George Bromley, who scored his first top-10 of the year at the recent Horseshoe Pass Road Race, plus Ethan Squires and Dan Galpin, and BCC have the firepower to attack, chase, or simply make the race attritional.
Daniel Barnes is another major name. 4th overall last year, he returns with his new team Wold Top Pactimo. If the race becomes a reduced-group drag race rather than a climber’s selection, Barnes immediately becomes one of the most dangerous riders in the field.
Two outsiders worth keeping an eye on. Oliver Snodden (Mandene Racing) opened his season by winning the Evesham Vale Road Race in March, then took 2nd on stage one of Totnes–Vire en route to 8th overall, and was 6th alongside Perrett at last weekend’s GA Bennett. Oliver Hurdle, newly signed by Stolen Goat 4Endurance after a year unattached, was 3rd at the same race; he was also part of the breakaway trio that took the podium between them at this race in 2025, before being caught on the final lap.
Elsewhere, TAAP Kalas have James Bacon, Matthew Brown, and Joshua Knowles; while Ryan Williams (Cycling Sheffield), Dean Watson (Doncaster Wheelers CC), Felix Earth (O’Neills Spirit Racing Team), Joshua Horsfield (Cycling Sheffield), Ryan Oldfield (Team Tactic U23), and Isaak Herbert (Halesowen A&CC) all add to a field that feels stronger than the raw numbers suggest.
On Sunday 31 May, the East and West Midlands Regional Championships head to Woolsthorpe for a day of National B racing on the new Knipton circuit near Belvoir Castle: technical, punchy, and unlikely to give the bunch many cheap kilometres. Now a familiar pairing on the calendar, the two championships are held simultaneously for the fourth time, and for the fourth consecutive year under the promotion of the University of Nottingham Cycling Club and the Yomp Bonk Crew.
Featured image: Chris McKnight
Use code TBC10 at 4Endurance.co.uk for 10% off your order.
What is it?
The East and West Midlands Regional Championships have run as a paired event since 2023, two regional titles decided in one race over a shared circuit. The University of Nottingham Cycling Club and Yomp Bonk Crew co-promote, supported by sponsors Fusion Media (the title sponsor of the women’s race) and Velo Bavarian. The women’s race also incorporates the North East, North West and Yorkshire regional championships.
Riders carry coloured number stickers to mark their region — yellow for East Midlands, green for West Midlands, purple for Yorkshire, red for North West, blue for North East — and the regional podiums are decided from within each colour. The overall, open to all comers, is the headline result and the one most racing watchers will track. The women roll out at 9:00, with a finish expected around 12:00; the open race starts at 14:00 and should conclude near 17:00.
The race has moved venue several times in recent seasons. Adam Lewis and Ella Tandy won the event in 2024 on the Hose circuit. Twelve months later, Lewis returned to win again on Windley Hill ahead of Caleb Pain and Oliver Dawson, while Madeline Cooper powered clear on the final ascent to take the women’s race and the Yorkshire regional title, ahead of Mika Söderström and defending champion Tandy. This year’s edition is the first to actually be raced on the Knipton roads.
The route
The Knipton course is not a headline-climb circuit. There is no Windley Hill-style set piece, no obvious wall that forces the decisive split, no final ramp that writes the tactics for everyone. Instead, the damage should come by accumulation. The lap measures 13.9km with 134m of climbing, so the women’s seven laps (97km) take in around 940m of elevation, and the open’s nine laps (125km) around 1,200m.
Knipton is a course where momentum, positioning and repeated accelerations matter more than pure climbing pedigree. The lap begins with a gentle rise for the first 3km, passing the popular Café Allez, so the opening kilometres will be well-charted territory for many in the field rather than virgin tarmac. The course then plunges down the first of two quick descents into Knipton, swiftly followed by two kickers. The first is particularly steep and, sitting roughly halfway around the lap, likely to be a launch pad for attacks in the closing stages. The second comes with 4km to go, where the race takes in a left-hand hairpin in Denton that will be a pinch-point for any larger groups. In the closing kilometres the race dives down a steep descent to a finish line just beyond its foot.
On paper, it favours riders who can ride hard over the top of a rise, keep pressing on the false flats, and still have something left after three hours of pressure. Yet anything is possible, as this will be the first race to run on the loop.
With the forecast building from around 19°C by midday, riders should face fewer heat-related challenges than over the recent bank holiday, when temperatures exceeded 30°C. That said, feeding will remain important and riders must stay on top of their hydration. There is also a chance of a stiff crosswind on the longest drag and the opening descent.
Riders to watch
Fusion Media East and West Midlands (and Northern) Women’s Championships
The women’s field is 27 riders deep, but it has enough quality and enough small-team intrigue to make the race difficult to control. No team has overwhelming numbers. Team Empella and Jadan Glasdon p/b Vive le Velo bring three riders apiece; FTP–Fulfil The Potential Racing and Loughborough Lightning have two each.
The obvious name on the startlist is Ella Tandy (Simpson Nouvelles). She won this race overall in 2024, also taking the West Midlands crown, and returned in 2025 to finish 3rd in the overall women’s race while retaining the West Midlands title. Now 19 and in her first season with Simpson Nouvelles, her 2026 has already taken in 2nd at the Florrie Newbery Classic and a top-fifteen at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix. If it comes down to a reduced group, she has already shown she can finish off a hard regional championship.
Freya Taylor (Jadan Glasdon p/b Vive le Velo) is arguably the form rider in the field. New to Jadan Glasdon for 2026 from Team Empella, she opened her season with 7th at the London Academy Easter Road Race and 5th at the Florrie Newbery Classic — two punchy National B results in successive weeks. With Ruth Dunstan and Abbie Taylor alongside her, Jadan Glasdon arrive with a strong collective.
Evie Smith, in her debut road season for Redchilli Bikes O’Shea Racing, recently showed her repeatable punch, placing 8th at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix and taking a podium at the Witham Hall Grand Prix. She is one to watch.
Rosie Simmons gives Loughborough Lightning a genuine contender. New to the squad for 2026 after two seasons at Brother UK–OnForm, she has been a regular in the top fifteen this spring: 16th at Capernwray, 11th at the Florrie Newbery, 9th at Witham Hall, and 12th at Banbury Star. She finished 10th here in 2025. With Georgina Oakley alongside her – 9th in this race last year – the Lightning pair should feature prominently.
Hannah Clough gives the promoting club, University of Nottingham CC, a genuine card to play. She finished 6th in last year’s edition, in a race where the decisive front group came back together late before the final selection was made. 12th overall at the Peak 2 Day in March, with two top-fifteen stage finishes on the way, is her best result so far in 2026.
Sian Botteley adds another dimension. Now with Brother UK–OnForm after a 2025 with Smurfit Westrock, she opened the season with 18th at the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic. On a circuit that rewards riders who can hold a high pace through repeated climbs, she fits the profile.
East and West Midlands Opens Championships
The open race has more teams arriving with larger numbers, so expect a proper war of attrition. BCC Race Team and DAS Richardsons both arrive with five riders, Halesowen A&CC bring four, while Wold Top Pactimo and TAAP Kalas each have three. That matters: on a circuit with little respite between the climbs, numbers can be as valuable as legs.
Still, the race starts with one unavoidable question: how do you beat Adam Lewis?
Lewis, now with the US-based UCI Continental team APS Pro Cycling, won in 2024 and returned in 2025 to win again, making his decisive move on the final climb of the Windley circuit. He returns this year fresh off the Rás Tailteann, where he wore the yellow jersey for a day, finished 4th overall, and was in the day-long breakaway on the final stage into Dunboyne — racing that has come on the back of his maiden UCI win at the Tour of the Gila earlier this year. Knipton is a different kind of test from any of those, but it is still long enough and hard enough for the strongest rider to impose himself if the race is allowed to come back together.
The two riders who finished closest to Lewis in 2025 are both back, and both arrive in form. Caleb Pain was 2nd last year, the only rider strong enough to bridge to Lewis in the closing kilometres of Windley Hill. He has built his 2026 in similar shape — 10th overall at the Peak 2 Day in March, with a 7th on stage one. Alongside him at RideRevolution Coaching, Josh Housley is the more decorated of the pair, and arguably the most in-form rider in the field. He has been on the podium at the Timmy James Memorial Grand Prix, 5th at the East Cleveland Classic, and 10th overall at the Peak 2 Day, all within the last two months. Twice a Capernwray winner and a prior winner of the East Midlands Championship, he is likely to be marked from the gun.
DAS Richardsons may be the strongest collective in the field. William Perrett won last Sunday’s GA Bennett Road Race, just 30 minutes from Knipton, and was 4th at the Timmy James Memorial the week before; he was also 8th overall at the Peak 2 Day. Matthew Lord, returning to DAS in 2026 after a year in France with Team Bricquebec Cotentin, was 3rd at Capernwray, 5th overall at the Peak 2 Day, and 9th at the Timmy James. With Cai Davies (8th here in 2025), Pete Cocker and Piers Mahn (20th in 2025) alongside, DAS arrive with five riders and two genuine podium candidates — racing on home roads.
BCC Race Team match those numbers and bring a different kind of weapon. George Stephen, who is racing on roads close to the University of Nottingham where he studies, was 5th here in 2025 and is the latest contributor to our journal series. Lewis Tinsley, the highest-ranked U23 in the field, returns having taken third overall at the Peak 2 Day in March. Add George Bromley, who scored his first top-10 of the year at the recent Horseshoe Pass Road Race, plus Ethan Squires and Dan Galpin, and BCC have the firepower to attack, chase, or simply make the race attritional.
Daniel Barnes is another major name. 4th overall last year, he returns with his new team Wold Top Pactimo. If the race becomes a reduced-group drag race rather than a climber’s selection, Barnes immediately becomes one of the most dangerous riders in the field.
Two outsiders worth keeping an eye on. Oliver Snodden (Mandene Racing) opened his season by winning the Evesham Vale Road Race in March, then took 2nd on stage one of Totnes–Vire en route to 8th overall, and was 6th alongside Perrett at last weekend’s GA Bennett. Oliver Hurdle, newly signed by Stolen Goat 4Endurance after a year unattached, was 3rd at the same race; he was also part of the breakaway trio that took the podium between them at this race in 2025, before being caught on the final lap.
Elsewhere, TAAP Kalas have James Bacon, Matthew Brown, and Joshua Knowles; while Ryan Williams (Cycling Sheffield), Dean Watson (Doncaster Wheelers CC), Felix Earth (O’Neills Spirit Racing Team), Joshua Horsfield (Cycling Sheffield), Ryan Oldfield (Team Tactic U23), and Isaak Herbert (Halesowen A&CC) all add to a field that feels stronger than the raw numbers suggest.
Provisional startlists
Women’s race
Open race
Share this:
Discover more from The British Continental
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.