Sheffield Grand Prix joins the Rapha Super-League as Cambridge Criterium steps back for 2026
One of Britain's best-loved criteriums gains Super-League status on 22 July after the Cambridge Criterium's organisers opted to pause the race and return on a new course. The reshuffle hands the North Yorkshire Grand Prix the finale;and gives both title races a new shape.
The Sheffield Grand Prix will join the Rapha Super-League on 22 July, stepping in as the competition’s eighth and highest-scoring remaining round after the cancellation of the Cambridge Criterium, which had been due to close the League on 23 August.
It is a fitting elevation for one of the domestic calendar’s best-loved evenings: a barrier-lined, 1.4-kilometre loop that corkscrews through the heart of the Steel City, sweeping past the Peace Gardens onto Pinstone Street, down the granite setts of Norfolk Street, and around Furnival Gate back to the line on Union Street, cowbells ringing, free to watch, on a midweek summer night. Already a round of the Lloyds National Circuit Series, the race carries a roll of honour that runs from Dean Downing and Helen Wyman to Tom Pidcock and Katie Archibald. Both its open and women’s races will now count towards the 2026 Super-League.
Cambridge’s absence is a pause rather than an ending. Race organiser Owen Lake was unable to secure the funding required to run it on its current city-centre course this year, and is planning a return on a revised route.
“This year we couldn’t secure the same level of funding for the race to run on its current course in the city at the level we wanted,” said Lake. “With that in mind, we identified some less expensive options and are planning an exciting return for the race on the new and improved course.”
Lake’s company, Monument, also produces the Super-League’s race-day content and live broadcasts on Monument Cycling TV; the change, he said, “has allowed us to put extra energy into helping the scene as a whole through our coverage of the Rapha Super-League, race day content, and live broadcasts on Monument Cycling TV, which we’re hoping to grow next year.”
Matt Bostock wins the 2025 Sheffield Grand Prix. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
The swap reshapes the run-in. Sheffield inherits Cambridge’s classification, worth 27 points to the winner—more than Dawlish’s 24, fewer than Otley’s 31—so the points on offer are unchanged even as their order is not. With the Dawlish Grand Prix taking place this Friday (17 July), the season’s two remaining criteriums now fall within five days of each other in July, and the North Yorkshire Grand Prix on 16 August becomes the finale: both titles will be settled on a road race rather than under city-centre lights.
“Sheffield is well known as a brilliant city-centre crit, a popular race with riders as well as spectators, with a supportive and lively atmosphere, so it was an obvious choice to replace Cambridge when we learned that the race wasn’t to go ahead this year,” said Jess Morgan, Rapha’s UK marketing manager. “We’re grateful to the organisers for accommodating the last-minute change, and we can’t wait to see how the racing goes on the night. We’ll be watching the battle between Tom Armstrong, Ollie Wood, and Matt Bostock play out at the top of the Super-League leaderboard.”
“It’s great to be recognised as a round worthy of the series,” said Marc Etches, the Sheffield Grand Prix’s organiser. “It’ll bring a great atmosphere to the event, which can only be a positive move. A big thanks to Jess and the team at Rapha.”
That battle is where the recalibration bites. Bostock, twice undone by mechanicals this season, now finds his two best opportunities—the criteriums—compressed into five July days, while a road-race finale in North Yorkshire will suit the steadier qualities that have carried Armstrong to the top of the table without a win. In the women’s competition, where Morven Yeoman leads by 22 points, the earlier finish removes a looming complication: the original finale would have clashed directly with the Tour of Britain Women.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
The Sheffield Grand Prix will join the Rapha Super-League on 22 July, stepping in as the competition’s eighth and highest-scoring remaining round after the cancellation of the Cambridge Criterium, which had been due to close the League on 23 August.
It is a fitting elevation for one of the domestic calendar’s best-loved evenings: a barrier-lined, 1.4-kilometre loop that corkscrews through the heart of the Steel City, sweeping past the Peace Gardens onto Pinstone Street, down the granite setts of Norfolk Street, and around Furnival Gate back to the line on Union Street, cowbells ringing, free to watch, on a midweek summer night. Already a round of the Lloyds National Circuit Series, the race carries a roll of honour that runs from Dean Downing and Helen Wyman to Tom Pidcock and Katie Archibald. Both its open and women’s races will now count towards the 2026 Super-League.
Cambridge’s absence is a pause rather than an ending. Race organiser Owen Lake was unable to secure the funding required to run it on its current city-centre course this year, and is planning a return on a revised route.
“This year we couldn’t secure the same level of funding for the race to run on its current course in the city at the level we wanted,” said Lake. “With that in mind, we identified some less expensive options and are planning an exciting return for the race on the new and improved course.”
Lake’s company, Monument, also produces the Super-League’s race-day content and live broadcasts on Monument Cycling TV; the change, he said, “has allowed us to put extra energy into helping the scene as a whole through our coverage of the Rapha Super-League, race day content, and live broadcasts on Monument Cycling TV, which we’re hoping to grow next year.”
The swap reshapes the run-in. Sheffield inherits Cambridge’s classification, worth 27 points to the winner—more than Dawlish’s 24, fewer than Otley’s 31—so the points on offer are unchanged even as their order is not. With the Dawlish Grand Prix taking place this Friday (17 July), the season’s two remaining criteriums now fall within five days of each other in July, and the North Yorkshire Grand Prix on 16 August becomes the finale: both titles will be settled on a road race rather than under city-centre lights.
“Sheffield is well known as a brilliant city-centre crit, a popular race with riders as well as spectators, with a supportive and lively atmosphere, so it was an obvious choice to replace Cambridge when we learned that the race wasn’t to go ahead this year,” said Jess Morgan, Rapha’s UK marketing manager. “We’re grateful to the organisers for accommodating the last-minute change, and we can’t wait to see how the racing goes on the night. We’ll be watching the battle between Tom Armstrong, Ollie Wood, and Matt Bostock play out at the top of the Super-League leaderboard.”
“It’s great to be recognised as a round worthy of the series,” said Marc Etches, the Sheffield Grand Prix’s organiser. “It’ll bring a great atmosphere to the event, which can only be a positive move. A big thanks to Jess and the team at Rapha.”
That battle is where the recalibration bites. Bostock, twice undone by mechanicals this season, now finds his two best opportunities—the criteriums—compressed into five July days, while a road-race finale in North Yorkshire will suit the steadier qualities that have carried Armstrong to the top of the table without a win. In the women’s competition, where Morven Yeoman leads by 22 points, the earlier finish removes a looming complication: the original finale would have clashed directly with the Tour of Britain Women.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
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