Atkins and Clay win junior national time trial titles as camsmajaco dominate in North Yorkshire
Leon Atkins went one better than last year and Aalia Clay crowned a breakout first junior season as camsmajaco claimed both national time trial jerseys on a windy afternoon near York (Saturday 4 July).
Twelve months ago, Leon Atkins finished second in the junior national time trial. On Saturday, on a windswept 23.9-kilometre course in the Vale of York, the camsmajaco rider made sure there would be no repeat, winning the open junior title by 22 seconds — and his team-mate Aalia Clay made it a camsmajaco double, taking the junior women’s crown in her first season in the category.
Featured image: Joe Hudson
Report
The championships, promoted by the Yomp Bonk Crew from a base at Nun Monkton, opened a weekend of racing in North Yorkshire that concludes with Sunday’s road races near Beckwithshaw. Conditions were dry and warm but windy, on a course that rolled gently through Green Hammerton before a long, exposed run south to the finish near Walshford — 145 metres of climbing in total.
Open race
Atkins, 17, stopped the clock at 29:09 — an average of just over 49 kilometres per hour, mandatory stop included. Last year he was runner-up to Dylan Sage, who has since moved on to the INEOS Grenadiers Racing Academy; this year the Lidl-Trek future signing, who took individual pursuit bronze at the National Track Championships, left no room for argument.
“It was a good day out there,” Atkins told The British Continental. “Pretty windy, which added a bit of extra variability to the course, but I’m very happy with my ride. Nice to come back this year and win after coming second last year.”
Leon Atkins. Image: Joe Hudson
The wind reshaped the course from the one he had reconnoitred. “I rode it yesterday, and it wasn’t anywhere near as windy, which actually made quite a big difference, because the way back is a lot more rolling, and it made it really hard on the way back, unexpectedly,” he explained. “It’s not a flat course, but not hilly — just a few rolls — and it’s actually really nice to ride in the end.”
Behind him, Evander Wishart (Décathlon CMA CGM Juniors Team) improved on his seventh place of last year to take silver at 22 seconds, with Sam Martin (VC Londres) completing the podium 44 seconds down. Noah Smith (Willebrord Wil Vooruit) missed the medals by nine seconds in fourth, and Toby Tombs — now racing for Belgian junior squad Crabbé Dstny — rounded out the top five at 51 seconds.
Women’s race
If Atkins’ win followed the script, Aalia Clay wrote her own. The 17-year-old first-year junior, who came through the youth ranks at VC Londres, won in 33:16, 13 seconds clear of camsmajaco team-mate Gabriella McHugh, with Mabli Phillips (Shibden Apex RT) third at 18 seconds.
“I’m relatively new to this discipline, but I found I quite enjoy it,” Clay said. “Over the past few months I’ve been training for this event, really.”
The preparation showed in how she handled a course longer and more exposed than anything on the usual junior calendar. “It’s a lot longer than the ones you usually tend to do, and every time there’s a gap in a hedge, you kind of just get blown,” she said. “But I think I coped alright with it, and I think I paced it well.”
Clay arrived as the form rider against the clock, having won the Witham Hall 2-Day in April — the second round of the Junior Women’s National Road Series — on the strength of victories in both of its time trial stages. A national title in her first junior season confirms the trajectory, and her programme now turns towards the continent, with a hilly stage race in France next week followed by the Watersley race in the Netherlands, which includes a time trial of its own.
Clay. Image: Joe Hudson
For Phillips, the podium extends a fine 18 months: runner-up in this event last year, Welsh road race champion in 2025, and sixth at the Clásica de Jaén junior Nations Cup in February. The Welsh rider was the only non-camsmajaco athlete to break up the winning team’s stranglehold on the top four, with Melanie Rowe fourth at 26 seconds and Shibden’s Phoebe Taylor fifth.
The team double was not lost on either champion. “It shows we’ve got a good strong team,” Atkins said, while Clay, asked about the support around her, kept it simple: “The team is really good.”
Further down the order, Ruby Isaac (camsmajaco) — last year’s junior road race champion — finished 15th ahead of Sunday’s road race, where she defends her title on the 18.2-kilometre Beckwithshaw circuit.
Both of Saturday’s champions will be there too, though Atkins was giving little away: “We’ll just have to meet with the team and discuss what we want to do.” Clay was more forthcoming about what awaits. “I think it will be windy again, and the course is quite punchy. I think it’ll just be hard,” she said. “But one to look forward to, definitely.”
The junior road race championships take place on Sunday 5 July near Beckwithshaw, Harrogate: the women’s race over five laps from 09:00, the open race over seven laps from 14:00.
Twelve months ago, Leon Atkins finished second in the junior national time trial. On Saturday, on a windswept 23.9-kilometre course in the Vale of York, the camsmajaco rider made sure there would be no repeat, winning the open junior title by 22 seconds — and his team-mate Aalia Clay made it a camsmajaco double, taking the junior women’s crown in her first season in the category.
Featured image: Joe Hudson
Report
The championships, promoted by the Yomp Bonk Crew from a base at Nun Monkton, opened a weekend of racing in North Yorkshire that concludes with Sunday’s road races near Beckwithshaw. Conditions were dry and warm but windy, on a course that rolled gently through Green Hammerton before a long, exposed run south to the finish near Walshford — 145 metres of climbing in total.
Open race
Atkins, 17, stopped the clock at 29:09 — an average of just over 49 kilometres per hour, mandatory stop included. Last year he was runner-up to Dylan Sage, who has since moved on to the INEOS Grenadiers Racing Academy; this year the Lidl-Trek future signing, who took individual pursuit bronze at the National Track Championships, left no room for argument.
“It was a good day out there,” Atkins told The British Continental. “Pretty windy, which added a bit of extra variability to the course, but I’m very happy with my ride. Nice to come back this year and win after coming second last year.”
The wind reshaped the course from the one he had reconnoitred. “I rode it yesterday, and it wasn’t anywhere near as windy, which actually made quite a big difference, because the way back is a lot more rolling, and it made it really hard on the way back, unexpectedly,” he explained. “It’s not a flat course, but not hilly — just a few rolls — and it’s actually really nice to ride in the end.”
Behind him, Evander Wishart (Décathlon CMA CGM Juniors Team) improved on his seventh place of last year to take silver at 22 seconds, with Sam Martin (VC Londres) completing the podium 44 seconds down. Noah Smith (Willebrord Wil Vooruit) missed the medals by nine seconds in fourth, and Toby Tombs — now racing for Belgian junior squad Crabbé Dstny — rounded out the top five at 51 seconds.
Women’s race
If Atkins’ win followed the script, Aalia Clay wrote her own. The 17-year-old first-year junior, who came through the youth ranks at VC Londres, won in 33:16, 13 seconds clear of camsmajaco team-mate Gabriella McHugh, with Mabli Phillips (Shibden Apex RT) third at 18 seconds.
“I’m relatively new to this discipline, but I found I quite enjoy it,” Clay said. “Over the past few months I’ve been training for this event, really.”
The preparation showed in how she handled a course longer and more exposed than anything on the usual junior calendar. “It’s a lot longer than the ones you usually tend to do, and every time there’s a gap in a hedge, you kind of just get blown,” she said. “But I think I coped alright with it, and I think I paced it well.”
Clay arrived as the form rider against the clock, having won the Witham Hall 2-Day in April — the second round of the Junior Women’s National Road Series — on the strength of victories in both of its time trial stages. A national title in her first junior season confirms the trajectory, and her programme now turns towards the continent, with a hilly stage race in France next week followed by the Watersley race in the Netherlands, which includes a time trial of its own.
For Phillips, the podium extends a fine 18 months: runner-up in this event last year, Welsh road race champion in 2025, and sixth at the Clásica de Jaén junior Nations Cup in February. The Welsh rider was the only non-camsmajaco athlete to break up the winning team’s stranglehold on the top four, with Melanie Rowe fourth at 26 seconds and Shibden’s Phoebe Taylor fifth.
The team double was not lost on either champion. “It shows we’ve got a good strong team,” Atkins said, while Clay, asked about the support around her, kept it simple: “The team is really good.”
Further down the order, Ruby Isaac (camsmajaco) — last year’s junior road race champion — finished 15th ahead of Sunday’s road race, where she defends her title on the 18.2-kilometre Beckwithshaw circuit.
Both of Saturday’s champions will be there too, though Atkins was giving little away: “We’ll just have to meet with the team and discuss what we want to do.” Clay was more forthcoming about what awaits. “I think it will be windy again, and the course is quite punchy. I think it’ll just be hard,” she said. “But one to look forward to, definitely.”
The junior road race championships take place on Sunday 5 July near Beckwithshaw, Harrogate: the women’s race over five laps from 09:00, the open race over seven laps from 14:00.
Results
Women
Open
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