2026 Lancaster Grand Prix: open race report and results
Tom Armstrong attacked from a seven-rider group to take his first National Road Series victory, moving 23 points clear of teammate Tom Martin as Wheelbase CabTech Castelli also won the Climber's and team classifications.
Tom Armstrong attacked from a seven-rider lead group on the final rise into Williamson Park to win the Lancaster Grand Prix and strengthen his lead in the open National Road Series.
The Wheelbase CabTech Castelli rider finished ahead of George Radcliffe (Atom 6–Cycleur de Luxe–Auto Stroo Continental Team) and Adam Lewis (APS Pro Cycling) beneath the Ashton Memorial, taking his first National Road Series victory four days after his breakthrough win in the National Circuit Series at Guildford. He now leads teammate Tom Martin by 23 points, with Radcliffe moving into third overall.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Report
Lancaster was Round 4 of the open series and the sixth edition of a race created in 2019 as a British answer to an Ardennes Classic. Back after a year away, it took the riders over ten laps and roughly 150 kilometres of the Quernmore circuit: short climbs, narrow lanes and exposed ridges on the edge of the Forest of Bowland, before the uphill return into Williamson Park. Only 52 of the 112 starters finished.
The attacks began almost immediately and barely stopped. Josh Housley (Ride Revolution Coaching), Craig Paterson (Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT), Thomas Lewis (BCC Race Team) and Adam Hartley (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli), making his debut four days after joining the team, were among the first riders to go clear. Matthew Bostock (Rapha Cycling Club) later attacked alone, while larger groups repeatedly formed and dissolved.
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
A more significant selection emerged with five laps remaining, when Lewis Tinsley (BCC Race Team), Caleb Pain (Ride Revolution Coaching), George Peden (Team PB Performance), Martin, Henry Hunter (360cycling) and Oliver Snodden (Mandene Racing) opened a gap of 28 seconds over a splintering peloton.
Armstrong was not among them. He rode across with Cai Davies (DAS Richardsons), helping form a front group of 25, but the effort left him fearing he had spent too much.
“About halfway through the race, Tom was in the move and I rode across with a lad from DAS Richardsons, and I thought that was it. I spent all my pennies there,” he said.
“Then they came back together and I turned to Tom and said, ‘Mate, I can’t go again.’ And he said, ‘Well, you’re going to have to.'”
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Martin’s presence in the moves allowed Armstrong to choose his moments rather than respond to every attack.
“Tom was in all the moves, which made it a little bit easier for me to sit back and call everyone’s bluff, with him being second in the series as well,” Armstrong said.
“We’re definitely a group that doesn’t mind if it changes hands. Tom’s one of my best mates, so I’d have been happy to see him win.”
The front continued to fracture. Martin attacked again with four laps remaining and was joined by Peden and Adam Lewis, while local rider Charles Paige (Bourg-en-Bresse Ain Cyclisme) punctured with three laps to go, took a wheel from neutral service and chased back to the leaders.
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Seven riders entered the final two kilometres together. Armstrong attacked on the rise into Williamson Park and held his advantage to the line. Radcliffe took second ahead of Adam Lewis, with Jake Edwards (Zappi Racing Team) fourth and Paige fifth, four seconds behind. Jack Baldie (Pronto Bikes) finished sixth and won the under-23 classification, while Martin was seventh and took the Climber’s Competition.
“It was a battle,” Armstrong said. “I never made any of those breaks. I had to ride across to them all.
“When you’re the series leader, and coming off the back of a win this week as well, everybody thinks you’re Superman — so I kind of had to take that on and try and be that today. It was just picking your battles to win the war.”
Wheelbase also won the team classification, completing a near-total afternoon and tightening its hold on the series. Armstrong leads on 166 points, Martin has 143 and Radcliffe 124.
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
The victory carried a personal significance, too. Armstrong, a sponsored rider for Vetta Cycling, dedicated it to the Derbyshire wheel brand’s founder, Jono Hornblow, who died earlier this year — and to Hornblow’s family and the team at Vetta. He had hoped to do the same at the CiCLE Classic in April, where he was beaten to the win by half a wheel.
“I missed out by a few centimetres at CiCLE, and I didn’t get to do it,” he said. “I really want to dedicate this one to Jono and his family, and the guys over at Vetta.
“And my home race at the same time. It’s just — can’t get much better, can you?”
Tom Armstrong attacked from a seven-rider lead group on the final rise into Williamson Park to win the Lancaster Grand Prix and strengthen his lead in the open National Road Series.
The Wheelbase CabTech Castelli rider finished ahead of George Radcliffe (Atom 6–Cycleur de Luxe–Auto Stroo Continental Team) and Adam Lewis (APS Pro Cycling) beneath the Ashton Memorial, taking his first National Road Series victory four days after his breakthrough win in the National Circuit Series at Guildford. He now leads teammate Tom Martin by 23 points, with Radcliffe moving into third overall.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Report
Lancaster was Round 4 of the open series and the sixth edition of a race created in 2019 as a British answer to an Ardennes Classic. Back after a year away, it took the riders over ten laps and roughly 150 kilometres of the Quernmore circuit: short climbs, narrow lanes and exposed ridges on the edge of the Forest of Bowland, before the uphill return into Williamson Park. Only 52 of the 112 starters finished.
The attacks began almost immediately and barely stopped. Josh Housley (Ride Revolution Coaching), Craig Paterson (Edinburgh Bike Fitting RT), Thomas Lewis (BCC Race Team) and Adam Hartley (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli), making his debut four days after joining the team, were among the first riders to go clear. Matthew Bostock (Rapha Cycling Club) later attacked alone, while larger groups repeatedly formed and dissolved.
A more significant selection emerged with five laps remaining, when Lewis Tinsley (BCC Race Team), Caleb Pain (Ride Revolution Coaching), George Peden (Team PB Performance), Martin, Henry Hunter (360cycling) and Oliver Snodden (Mandene Racing) opened a gap of 28 seconds over a splintering peloton.
Armstrong was not among them. He rode across with Cai Davies (DAS Richardsons), helping form a front group of 25, but the effort left him fearing he had spent too much.
“About halfway through the race, Tom was in the move and I rode across with a lad from DAS Richardsons, and I thought that was it. I spent all my pennies there,” he said.
“Then they came back together and I turned to Tom and said, ‘Mate, I can’t go again.’ And he said, ‘Well, you’re going to have to.'”
Martin’s presence in the moves allowed Armstrong to choose his moments rather than respond to every attack.
“Tom was in all the moves, which made it a little bit easier for me to sit back and call everyone’s bluff, with him being second in the series as well,” Armstrong said.
“We’re definitely a group that doesn’t mind if it changes hands. Tom’s one of my best mates, so I’d have been happy to see him win.”
The front continued to fracture. Martin attacked again with four laps remaining and was joined by Peden and Adam Lewis, while local rider Charles Paige (Bourg-en-Bresse Ain Cyclisme) punctured with three laps to go, took a wheel from neutral service and chased back to the leaders.
Seven riders entered the final two kilometres together. Armstrong attacked on the rise into Williamson Park and held his advantage to the line. Radcliffe took second ahead of Adam Lewis, with Jake Edwards (Zappi Racing Team) fourth and Paige fifth, four seconds behind. Jack Baldie (Pronto Bikes) finished sixth and won the under-23 classification, while Martin was seventh and took the Climber’s Competition.
“It was a battle,” Armstrong said. “I never made any of those breaks. I had to ride across to them all.
“When you’re the series leader, and coming off the back of a win this week as well, everybody thinks you’re Superman — so I kind of had to take that on and try and be that today. It was just picking your battles to win the war.”
Wheelbase also won the team classification, completing a near-total afternoon and tightening its hold on the series. Armstrong leads on 166 points, Martin has 143 and Radcliffe 124.
The victory carried a personal significance, too. Armstrong, a sponsored rider for Vetta Cycling, dedicated it to the Derbyshire wheel brand’s founder, Jono Hornblow, who died earlier this year — and to Hornblow’s family and the team at Vetta. He had hoped to do the same at the CiCLE Classic in April, where he was beaten to the win by half a wheel.
“I missed out by a few centimetres at CiCLE, and I didn’t get to do it,” he said. “I really want to dedicate this one to Jono and his family, and the guys over at Vetta.
“And my home race at the same time. It’s just — can’t get much better, can you?”
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