2026 National Road Championships: women’s road race report and results
Zoe Bäckstedt completed a time-trial and road-race double in Aberystwyth, taking the elite and under-23 road titles after a long solo pursuit of Josie Knight — who held on for 2nd ahead of defending champion Millie Couzens.
Zoe Bäckstedt completed a National Road Championships double in Aberystwyth, rescuing a race that had almost drifted away from the peloton before turning it into a demonstration of her own strength. After Josie Knight spent much of the day alone out front, building a lead that at one point threatened to put the bunch out of contention altogether, Bäckstedt launched a long solo pursuit on the finishing circuit, caught Knight with 14 kilometres remaining, and rode on to add the road race title to the time-trial crown she had won three days earlier.
For much of Sunday’s women’s national road race, the title seemed to be disappearing up the road almost by consent. Josie Knight (DAS–Hutchinson) had gone clear before the first ascent of the main climb on the 23.4-kilometre inland circuit, and for a long time the peloton, despite the weight of WorldTour talent within it, appeared unwilling — or unable — to take responsibility.
The course was not one that invited hesitation. Run on dry roads but in a stiff wind off the coast, it sent the women repeatedly inland from Aberystwyth, over a sharp climb on the B4340 that touched 14.9 per cent, before returning to the seafront and, later, a finishing circuit that still contained the rise through Southgate. It was a championship route with enough in it to expose weakness, but it also demanded commitment. For several hours, Knight was the only rider prepared to fully offer it.
Her move came early and, in part, deliberately. A break had worked for her at last year’s championships, and Knight, who admitted afterwards that she is “not the most confident in the peloton”, had arrived intending to try something similar. “I just thought, try and get in a break again, and it becomes a good day out,” she said. “And unfortunately, I ended up on my own.”
Josie Knight DAS-Hutchinson. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
At first, there was the possibility of company. Isabel Mayes and Matilda McKibben (Redchilli Bikes O’Shea Racing), Mari Porton (Handsling Alba) and Jo Tindley (Smurfit Westrock) formed a chasing quartet, and Knight briefly considered whether it would be wiser to wait. “I got a time gap of 25 seconds to four riders, and I was like, do I wait for them, would it be better to be in a group,” she said. “Then it soon went to 45, and I was like, no — I’m in for a long day here.”
She was right. The chase behind never quite settled. Danni Watkinson (Jadan Glasdon pb Vive le Velo) was prominent in a peloton that, for all its names, seemed oddly becalmed. Becky Storrie (Picnic PostNL) lifted the pace on the second ascent of the main climb, thinning the bunch and briefly cutting into Knight’s advantage, but once that effort faded the gap began to stretch again. A counter from Kim Baptista (Pafgio Cycling Club) brought little change. By the final inland lap, Knight’s lead over the bunch had pushed beyond seven minutes, then towards nine.
There was, by then, open discussion of the peloton being in danger of the eight-minute cut-off. That finally gave the race its urgency. Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL) was among those driving as the reduced bunch, barely 20 riders by this point, began to take time back. But the move that changed the race did not come from an organised chase. It came from Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon–SRAM zondacrypto), alone.
Jo Tindley (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team). Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Bäckstedt had not looked inevitable all day. On the final ascent of the steep climb, she admitted she was struggling. “I was hanging on for dear life at the end of that, and I thought, this is going to be a hard day,” she said. But as the race reached the finishing circuit, the feeling changed. “On the long climb when we entered the small circuit, I felt really good.”
When Flora Perkins (Fenix–Premier Tech) attacked, Bäckstedt followed, rode over the top of her, and simply kept going. “Then it was a 55k solo day to the finish to try and catch Josie,” she said.
It was a daunting calculation. Bäckstedt was still more than six minutes down on Knight with 47 kilometres remaining, but once committed she began to take back time in large, regular chunks. She caught and passed Tindley and McKibben, by then the remnants of the chase, and pressed on alone. The bunch, now behind her, was no longer the central force in the race. The championship had become a pursuit between the day’s early believer and the rider best equipped to turn a deficit into a time trial.
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Knight could see what was coming. Her advantage, once so commanding, was falling lap by lap. “I kept having mental battles,” she said, admitting there were moments when she found herself thinking, “oh God, will they not just catch me already, put me out of my misery.” Bäckstedt reached her with around 14 kilometres remaining and went straight past. “I knew Zoe was coming across, so I just tried to give it all — and she came past like a steam train,” Knight said.
Bäckstedt did not falter. On home Welsh roads, days after retaining her national time-trial title, and a week after winning a stage at the Tour de Suisse Women, she rode clear to win by 1min 42sec. The victory gave her both the elite road race title and the under-23 crown, completing a national time-trial and road-race double.
Knight’s race, though, was not finished when Bäckstedt passed her. She still had to hold off the bunch for silver, and did so by 20 seconds after roughly 90 kilometres alone. “Once Zoe had come past, I thought it’s just a matter of time before everyone else catches me,” she said. “But my team car kept coming up next to me saying, you’ve got to believe in it, you can still get the second.” She did, and called herself “just chuffed to hang on for second”, pleased too that the champion’s jersey would now “go into the WorldTour peloton”.
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Behind her, defending champion Millie Couzens (Fenix–Premier Tech) won the sprint for bronze from the reduced bunch, ahead of Georgi and Anna Morris (Private Member). Imogen Wolff (Visma–Lease a Bike) and Erin Boothman (Liv AlUla Jayco) completed the under-23 podium behind Bäckstedt, while Morven Yeoman (DAS–Hutchinson), leader of both the women’s National Road Series and Rapha Super-League, finished 15th as the best home-based under-23.
For Bäckstedt, it capped a week framed by family as much as form. Her older sister Elynor had stood on the time-trial podium with her on Thursday, then handed up bottles in the feed zone on Sunday. “To have my sister on the podium as well, and to have my whole family here — it’s been a really nice week,” Bäckstedt said. “Just super fun and relaxed, and that makes it even nicer.”
Zoe Bäckstedt completed a National Road Championships double in Aberystwyth, rescuing a race that had almost drifted away from the peloton before turning it into a demonstration of her own strength. After Josie Knight spent much of the day alone out front, building a lead that at one point threatened to put the bunch out of contention altogether, Bäckstedt launched a long solo pursuit on the finishing circuit, caught Knight with 14 kilometres remaining, and rode on to add the road race title to the time-trial crown she had won three days earlier.
Featured image: SWpix.com
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Report
For much of Sunday’s women’s national road race, the title seemed to be disappearing up the road almost by consent. Josie Knight (DAS–Hutchinson) had gone clear before the first ascent of the main climb on the 23.4-kilometre inland circuit, and for a long time the peloton, despite the weight of WorldTour talent within it, appeared unwilling — or unable — to take responsibility.
The course was not one that invited hesitation. Run on dry roads but in a stiff wind off the coast, it sent the women repeatedly inland from Aberystwyth, over a sharp climb on the B4340 that touched 14.9 per cent, before returning to the seafront and, later, a finishing circuit that still contained the rise through Southgate. It was a championship route with enough in it to expose weakness, but it also demanded commitment. For several hours, Knight was the only rider prepared to fully offer it.
Her move came early and, in part, deliberately. A break had worked for her at last year’s championships, and Knight, who admitted afterwards that she is “not the most confident in the peloton”, had arrived intending to try something similar. “I just thought, try and get in a break again, and it becomes a good day out,” she said. “And unfortunately, I ended up on my own.”
At first, there was the possibility of company. Isabel Mayes and Matilda McKibben (Redchilli Bikes O’Shea Racing), Mari Porton (Handsling Alba) and Jo Tindley (Smurfit Westrock) formed a chasing quartet, and Knight briefly considered whether it would be wiser to wait. “I got a time gap of 25 seconds to four riders, and I was like, do I wait for them, would it be better to be in a group,” she said. “Then it soon went to 45, and I was like, no — I’m in for a long day here.”
She was right. The chase behind never quite settled. Danni Watkinson (Jadan Glasdon pb Vive le Velo) was prominent in a peloton that, for all its names, seemed oddly becalmed. Becky Storrie (Picnic PostNL) lifted the pace on the second ascent of the main climb, thinning the bunch and briefly cutting into Knight’s advantage, but once that effort faded the gap began to stretch again. A counter from Kim Baptista (Pafgio Cycling Club) brought little change. By the final inland lap, Knight’s lead over the bunch had pushed beyond seven minutes, then towards nine.
There was, by then, open discussion of the peloton being in danger of the eight-minute cut-off. That finally gave the race its urgency. Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL) was among those driving as the reduced bunch, barely 20 riders by this point, began to take time back. But the move that changed the race did not come from an organised chase. It came from Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon–SRAM zondacrypto), alone.
Bäckstedt had not looked inevitable all day. On the final ascent of the steep climb, she admitted she was struggling. “I was hanging on for dear life at the end of that, and I thought, this is going to be a hard day,” she said. But as the race reached the finishing circuit, the feeling changed. “On the long climb when we entered the small circuit, I felt really good.”
When Flora Perkins (Fenix–Premier Tech) attacked, Bäckstedt followed, rode over the top of her, and simply kept going. “Then it was a 55k solo day to the finish to try and catch Josie,” she said.
It was a daunting calculation. Bäckstedt was still more than six minutes down on Knight with 47 kilometres remaining, but once committed she began to take back time in large, regular chunks. She caught and passed Tindley and McKibben, by then the remnants of the chase, and pressed on alone. The bunch, now behind her, was no longer the central force in the race. The championship had become a pursuit between the day’s early believer and the rider best equipped to turn a deficit into a time trial.
Knight could see what was coming. Her advantage, once so commanding, was falling lap by lap. “I kept having mental battles,” she said, admitting there were moments when she found herself thinking, “oh God, will they not just catch me already, put me out of my misery.” Bäckstedt reached her with around 14 kilometres remaining and went straight past. “I knew Zoe was coming across, so I just tried to give it all — and she came past like a steam train,” Knight said.
Bäckstedt did not falter. On home Welsh roads, days after retaining her national time-trial title, and a week after winning a stage at the Tour de Suisse Women, she rode clear to win by 1min 42sec. The victory gave her both the elite road race title and the under-23 crown, completing a national time-trial and road-race double.
Knight’s race, though, was not finished when Bäckstedt passed her. She still had to hold off the bunch for silver, and did so by 20 seconds after roughly 90 kilometres alone. “Once Zoe had come past, I thought it’s just a matter of time before everyone else catches me,” she said. “But my team car kept coming up next to me saying, you’ve got to believe in it, you can still get the second.” She did, and called herself “just chuffed to hang on for second”, pleased too that the champion’s jersey would now “go into the WorldTour peloton”.
Behind her, defending champion Millie Couzens (Fenix–Premier Tech) won the sprint for bronze from the reduced bunch, ahead of Georgi and Anna Morris (Private Member). Imogen Wolff (Visma–Lease a Bike) and Erin Boothman (Liv AlUla Jayco) completed the under-23 podium behind Bäckstedt, while Morven Yeoman (DAS–Hutchinson), leader of both the women’s National Road Series and Rapha Super-League, finished 15th as the best home-based under-23.
For Bäckstedt, it capped a week framed by family as much as form. Her older sister Elynor had stood on the time-trial podium with her on Thursday, then handed up bottles in the feed zone on Sunday. “To have my sister on the podium as well, and to have my whole family here — it’s been a really nice week,” Bäckstedt said. “Just super fun and relaxed, and that makes it even nicer.”
Result
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