2026 North West, Yorkshire & North East Regional Road Race Championships: preview and startlist
The Northern Championships are set for Scorton this Sunday (31 May), featuring the North West, Yorkshire, and North East crowns contested in one open race.
A change of circuit, three titles, and a defending champion riding alone: the Northern Championships head to Scorton on Sunday (31 May), where the open North West, Yorkshire and North East crowns are settled in a single open race, with Dexter Leeming-Sykes back to defend the title he took by the width of a tyre last June.
For 2026, the race switches circuit, moving from Cumbria’s lumpy Calthwaite loop to the slightly rolling Scorton circuit in North Yorkshire, just off the A1 to the east of Catterick. A shortage of entries has, for the second year running, rolled the women’s title into the Midlands fixture, leaving the open race to carry the regional banner alone.
Route
The race takes in six laps of the 20.5 km Scorton circuit, taking in a total of 123 km. The course is a mix of B roads and unclassified lanes, with just over 100 metres of climbing per lap.
There is no single decisive climb of the kind that split the field at Calthwaite. On a flatter parcours, with narrow lanes that make moving up costly, races of this type are more likely to stay together. Nonetheless, there are plenty of points on the course where a break could get up the road and quickly disappear.
Riders to watch
The field is stacked with options for potential winners.
The form pick is Alexander Foster (Cycling Sheffield). He won the Danum Trophy in April to take Round 2 of the U23 Open National Road Series, then took a standout fourth at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix a fortnight later, leading the chase up the final climb to finish 10 seconds off the win. Foster is a rider who is very quickly making a name for himself in 2026.
Looking to defend his title is Dexter Leeming-Sykes, the only Wheelbase CabTech Castelli rider in the race. Twelve months on from the photo finish in Cumbria , itself almost a year to the day after he broke his back, he arrives as reigning champion and Yorkshire titleholder, and was prominent in the chase at Capernwray in April. The question is support: where the strongest squads bring blocks of riders, Leeming-Sykes is here alone, and may need the race to come back together to make his finish count.
Leeming-Sykes pips Henry Hunter in 2025. Image: Joe Hudson
The rider best placed to exploit that is Jack Hartley, the 2024 champion, who took both the Yorkshire and North West titles that year, and a serial National B winner. Third at the Gifford Road Race in March, he raced the GA Bennett only six days ago, and his sprint is quick enough to surprise the best in a race that comes together. Moonglu SpatzWear give him the strongest hand in the field, with eight riders, among them Ben Pease, second here in 2024 and a past GA Bennett podium finisher, and Joel Hurt, who made the winning break at Gifford.
Foster’s Cycling Sheffield teammate Denholm Edwards brings an unusual profile. He won the British Cycling National Track Series overall in January, before making the winning move at Danum alongside Foster — evidence he has the engine to stay with the strongest. Jack Crook (Moda RT) is a dangerous outsider: prominent in the early moves at the Peak 2 Day in March and riding without the burden of a squad to control the race, he is the kind of rider who can make the day awkward from the front.
Behind them, 360cycling field strength in numbers – Ben Etherington, Liam Hewitt and Daniel Saba among them, all active in national road races, while Prologue Racing Team, the new Harrogate under-23 squad, field five. It is also a race where the regional dimension matters: the outright winner takes the headline, but the Yorkshire, North East and North West medals may produce several races within the race.
Timing
The open race is briefed outside the HQ at Ellerton Lakes at 10:25 and rolls out, neutralised, at 10:30, with an approximate finish of 13:30.
A change of circuit, three titles, and a defending champion riding alone: the Northern Championships head to Scorton on Sunday (31 May), where the open North West, Yorkshire and North East crowns are settled in a single open race, with Dexter Leeming-Sykes back to defend the title he took by the width of a tyre last June.
Here is our preview.
Featured image: Joe Hudson
What is it?
Promoted by British Cycling’s Yorkshire region, the North West, Yorkshire & North East Regional Road Race Championships are a single National B fixture that crowns three divisional champions in one race. Riders from all regions can enter, but the first North West, first Yorkshire and first North East licence-holder over the line each take their respective title. Last summer Dexter Leeming-Sykes (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) edged Henry Hunter in a photo finish to claim the open title and the Yorkshire crown, with Hunter taking the North West and Oliver Halliday the North East.
For 2026, the race switches circuit, moving from Cumbria’s lumpy Calthwaite loop to the slightly rolling Scorton circuit in North Yorkshire, just off the A1 to the east of Catterick. A shortage of entries has, for the second year running, rolled the women’s title into the Midlands fixture, leaving the open race to carry the regional banner alone.
Route
The race takes in six laps of the 20.5 km Scorton circuit, taking in a total of 123 km. The course is a mix of B roads and unclassified lanes, with just over 100 metres of climbing per lap.
There is no single decisive climb of the kind that split the field at Calthwaite. On a flatter parcours, with narrow lanes that make moving up costly, races of this type are more likely to stay together. Nonetheless, there are plenty of points on the course where a break could get up the road and quickly disappear.
Riders to watch
The field is stacked with options for potential winners.
The form pick is Alexander Foster (Cycling Sheffield). He won the Danum Trophy in April to take Round 2 of the U23 Open National Road Series, then took a standout fourth at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix a fortnight later, leading the chase up the final climb to finish 10 seconds off the win. Foster is a rider who is very quickly making a name for himself in 2026.
Looking to defend his title is Dexter Leeming-Sykes, the only Wheelbase CabTech Castelli rider in the race. Twelve months on from the photo finish in Cumbria , itself almost a year to the day after he broke his back, he arrives as reigning champion and Yorkshire titleholder, and was prominent in the chase at Capernwray in April. The question is support: where the strongest squads bring blocks of riders, Leeming-Sykes is here alone, and may need the race to come back together to make his finish count.
The rider best placed to exploit that is Jack Hartley, the 2024 champion, who took both the Yorkshire and North West titles that year, and a serial National B winner. Third at the Gifford Road Race in March, he raced the GA Bennett only six days ago, and his sprint is quick enough to surprise the best in a race that comes together. Moonglu SpatzWear give him the strongest hand in the field, with eight riders, among them Ben Pease, second here in 2024 and a past GA Bennett podium finisher, and Joel Hurt, who made the winning break at Gifford.
Foster’s Cycling Sheffield teammate Denholm Edwards brings an unusual profile. He won the British Cycling National Track Series overall in January, before making the winning move at Danum alongside Foster — evidence he has the engine to stay with the strongest. Jack Crook (Moda RT) is a dangerous outsider: prominent in the early moves at the Peak 2 Day in March and riding without the burden of a squad to control the race, he is the kind of rider who can make the day awkward from the front.
Behind them, 360cycling field strength in numbers – Ben Etherington, Liam Hewitt and Daniel Saba among them, all active in national road races, while Prologue Racing Team, the new Harrogate under-23 squad, field five. It is also a race where the regional dimension matters: the outright winner takes the headline, but the Yorkshire, North East and North West medals may produce several races within the race.
Timing
The open race is briefed outside the HQ at Ellerton Lakes at 10:25 and rolls out, neutralised, at 10:30, with an approximate finish of 13:30.
Provisional startlist
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