2026 South Molton Grand Prix: women’s race report and results
Lucy Harris (DRAFT Racing) won the inaugural women's South Molton Grand Prix, holding off Lily Martin on the East Street climb in her first National Road Series appearance since March. Morven Yeoman, racing after a week of illness, finished 10th to retain the series lead by 28 points with two rounds remaining.
Lucy Harris won the inaugural women’s South Molton Grand Prix seated in the saddle. On a finish that pitches beyond 10%, Lily Martin — winner of three races this season, each of them alone — stood on the pedals and strained to come around her. Harris (DRAFT Racing) held her line and carried her advantage to the top of East Street.
Martin (Loughborough Lightning) never quite drew level. Jennifer Powell (Performance Development Team) completed the podium after a race that had been shedding riders since its opening hour.
It was Harris’s first National Road Series appearance since the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic in March, during a season deliberately divided between road and off-road racing. After leaving Smurfit Westrock at the end of a demanding Continental campaign, the former boxer joined DRAFT Racing last winter in search of a supportive environment and the freedom to choose her programme. On Sunday, she chose South Molton and won it.
The South Molton Grand Prix arrived as Round 6 of the women’s Lloyds National Road Series and the second half of the series’ Devon double-header, following Friday evening’s Dawlish Grand Prix. New in name, it replaces the Witheridge Grand Prix as the South West’s round of the calendar. After criticism of last year’s race distances, the women faced a longer and harder test: four laps of a rolling 28.3-kilometre circuit around the north Devon market town, 113.5 kilometres in all.
Forty-seven riders rolled out of the Pannier Market into a warm morning, and Loughborough Lightning set about animating the race from the flag.
Georgia Lancaster (Loughborough Lightning) clipped away with Kim Baptista (DRAFT Racing) and Mari Porton (Handsling Alba Development Road Team) before the first ascent of Ash Mill. When that move was caught, Georgina Oakley (Loughborough Lightning) went clear alone, before Isabel Mayes (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes) tried an attack of her own. The splits from the opening lap eventually reformed. Those on the second did not.
Image: Alan Danby/SWpix.com
By the end of lap two, 10 riders had separated themselves from a peloton already breaking into pieces: Harris, Martin, Powell, Grace Lister (Handsling Alba Development Road Team), Esther Wong (Team Farto–BTC), Amy Henchoz (Paralloy RT), Katie Scott and Morven Yeoman (both DAS–Hutchinson), Amelia Cebak (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team) and junior Gabriella McHugh (camsmajaco).
Their advantage was initially less than a minute, but had grown to 2’40” by the end of the third lap and was approaching four minutes by the finale. It was a measure of the group’s strength rather than its harmony. Attacks came and went on almost every rise, but the circuit’s climbs were punchy rather than prolonged: hard enough to hurt, not quite long enough to force a decisive separation.
The final lap did that instead.
Image: Alan Danby/SWpix.com
Cebak’s challenge was undone by a mechanical at the worst possible moment, before Martin attacked and stretched the group towards breaking point. Yeoman — racing after the illness that had kept her out of Friday’s Dawlish Grand Prix — lost contact along with Scott, Henchoz and Wong.
That left five: Martin, Harris, Powell, McHugh and Lister. Harris tried moves of her own, but none stuck. Her final attack was disrupted when her chain jumped, forcing her to sit up briefly before regaining contact. The five nevertheless reached the foot of East Street together, with half a kilometre of climbing remaining.
Martin committed early. Lister was the first to lose contact, followed by McHugh, who crossed the line five seconds down in fourth after an outstanding ride by the junior. Powell remained close enough to take third, but the victory was already becoming a contest between Harris and Martin.
As the gradient steepened, Martin rose from the saddle and tried to close. Harris stayed seated. The gap held.
“We just gradually broke the race down,” Harris said afterwards. “My chain jumped the final time I attacked, so I had to sit up a bit and then get back into it.”
Image: Alan Danby/SWpix.com
The plan, she explained, had been patience. “I was constantly looking around, trying to figure it out: who’s riding strongly, who’s struggling, where can I make effective work happen. When I’m working, I want it to be effective and useful, and when I’m not working, I’m just sitting in and letting other people make moves. I was trying to be really brave and trust myself to fire it up on the last few climbs, because I thought if I went too early I’d get caught on the descent — it’s definitely a descent where the group moves faster. I was just trying to make sure we never lost momentum, that the pace was high the whole time, but save the matches for the final set of climbs.”
She had arrived, she admitted, with few expectations beyond a course she liked. “I didn’t really know what the craic was these days, or who’s a mover to follow, but I knew the course suited me. I’ve not been at one of these in a while. I’ve been off doing side quests — mountain biking and gravel racing in Colorado for no apparent reason, just having fun.
“For me, if I’m happy, I genuinely feel like I can do anything. If I’m stressed, that next level of power and tenaciousness is something I can’t access. This season I’ve had no pressure on me at all. I’ve been able to set my own calendar and do whatever I want. Nobody’s been anything but supportive.”
It is the environment she described looking for when she signed for DRAFT Racing in December. Seven months later, her victory in South Molton looked less like the result of a rider stepping back and more like that of one who had found a programme that worked for her.
It was the second National Road Series round in succession won by a rider representing a team outside the UCI Continental ranks, following Martin’s solo victory for Loughborough Lightning at the Lancaster Grand Prix a week earlier.
Image: Alan Danby/SWpix.com
For DRAFT Racing — a Bristol-based squad that secured its first external backing this winter and places enjoyment at the centre of its approach — it was a landmark result: the team’s first National A victory.
“What it means to the team is a lot,” Harris said. “They’ve never had a Nat A win before. It means so much to me to be able to show people what their trust in me means. I want cycling to be a fair, happy sport where everybody feels supported, because for me, that’s when I feel like my legs can do anything. It was a hard race — but I wanted a hard race.”
Behind Harris, the series contest tightened again. Under the separate National Road Series points scale, Martin earned 48 points for second while Yeoman collected 32 for 10th, reducing Yeoman’s advantage from 44 points to 28 with the Curlew Cup and North Yorkshire Grand Prix remaining.
Yeoman’s result, 1’35” behind Harris, was hard-earned salvage from a compromised week. Henchoz moved into third overall, while Powell’s podium continued an outstanding season.
In the team standings, the squeeze is the same: DAS–Hutchinson still lead, but Handsling Alba Development Road Team have closed to within 18 points, 570 to 552. Two leads to defend, then, and two rounds in which to defend them.
Huge thanks to Sarah King, Lucy Harris, Lucy Gadd, Tammy Miller, AeroCLCTV and Matt McHugh for their input for this report.
Lucy Harris won the inaugural women’s South Molton Grand Prix seated in the saddle. On a finish that pitches beyond 10%, Lily Martin — winner of three races this season, each of them alone — stood on the pedals and strained to come around her. Harris (DRAFT Racing) held her line and carried her advantage to the top of East Street.
Martin (Loughborough Lightning) never quite drew level. Jennifer Powell (Performance Development Team) completed the podium after a race that had been shedding riders since its opening hour.
It was Harris’s first National Road Series appearance since the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic in March, during a season deliberately divided between road and off-road racing. After leaving Smurfit Westrock at the end of a demanding Continental campaign, the former boxer joined DRAFT Racing last winter in search of a supportive environment and the freedom to choose her programme. On Sunday, she chose South Molton and won it.
Featured image: Alan Danby/SWpix.com
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Report
The South Molton Grand Prix arrived as Round 6 of the women’s Lloyds National Road Series and the second half of the series’ Devon double-header, following Friday evening’s Dawlish Grand Prix. New in name, it replaces the Witheridge Grand Prix as the South West’s round of the calendar. After criticism of last year’s race distances, the women faced a longer and harder test: four laps of a rolling 28.3-kilometre circuit around the north Devon market town, 113.5 kilometres in all.
Forty-seven riders rolled out of the Pannier Market into a warm morning, and Loughborough Lightning set about animating the race from the flag.
Georgia Lancaster (Loughborough Lightning) clipped away with Kim Baptista (DRAFT Racing) and Mari Porton (Handsling Alba Development Road Team) before the first ascent of Ash Mill. When that move was caught, Georgina Oakley (Loughborough Lightning) went clear alone, before Isabel Mayes (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes) tried an attack of her own. The splits from the opening lap eventually reformed. Those on the second did not.
By the end of lap two, 10 riders had separated themselves from a peloton already breaking into pieces: Harris, Martin, Powell, Grace Lister (Handsling Alba Development Road Team), Esther Wong (Team Farto–BTC), Amy Henchoz (Paralloy RT), Katie Scott and Morven Yeoman (both DAS–Hutchinson), Amelia Cebak (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team) and junior Gabriella McHugh (camsmajaco).
Their advantage was initially less than a minute, but had grown to 2’40” by the end of the third lap and was approaching four minutes by the finale. It was a measure of the group’s strength rather than its harmony. Attacks came and went on almost every rise, but the circuit’s climbs were punchy rather than prolonged: hard enough to hurt, not quite long enough to force a decisive separation.
The final lap did that instead.
Cebak’s challenge was undone by a mechanical at the worst possible moment, before Martin attacked and stretched the group towards breaking point. Yeoman — racing after the illness that had kept her out of Friday’s Dawlish Grand Prix — lost contact along with Scott, Henchoz and Wong.
That left five: Martin, Harris, Powell, McHugh and Lister. Harris tried moves of her own, but none stuck. Her final attack was disrupted when her chain jumped, forcing her to sit up briefly before regaining contact. The five nevertheless reached the foot of East Street together, with half a kilometre of climbing remaining.
Martin committed early. Lister was the first to lose contact, followed by McHugh, who crossed the line five seconds down in fourth after an outstanding ride by the junior. Powell remained close enough to take third, but the victory was already becoming a contest between Harris and Martin.
As the gradient steepened, Martin rose from the saddle and tried to close. Harris stayed seated. The gap held.
“We just gradually broke the race down,” Harris said afterwards. “My chain jumped the final time I attacked, so I had to sit up a bit and then get back into it.”
The plan, she explained, had been patience. “I was constantly looking around, trying to figure it out: who’s riding strongly, who’s struggling, where can I make effective work happen. When I’m working, I want it to be effective and useful, and when I’m not working, I’m just sitting in and letting other people make moves. I was trying to be really brave and trust myself to fire it up on the last few climbs, because I thought if I went too early I’d get caught on the descent — it’s definitely a descent where the group moves faster. I was just trying to make sure we never lost momentum, that the pace was high the whole time, but save the matches for the final set of climbs.”
She had arrived, she admitted, with few expectations beyond a course she liked. “I didn’t really know what the craic was these days, or who’s a mover to follow, but I knew the course suited me. I’ve not been at one of these in a while. I’ve been off doing side quests — mountain biking and gravel racing in Colorado for no apparent reason, just having fun.
“For me, if I’m happy, I genuinely feel like I can do anything. If I’m stressed, that next level of power and tenaciousness is something I can’t access. This season I’ve had no pressure on me at all. I’ve been able to set my own calendar and do whatever I want. Nobody’s been anything but supportive.”
It is the environment she described looking for when she signed for DRAFT Racing in December. Seven months later, her victory in South Molton looked less like the result of a rider stepping back and more like that of one who had found a programme that worked for her.
It was the second National Road Series round in succession won by a rider representing a team outside the UCI Continental ranks, following Martin’s solo victory for Loughborough Lightning at the Lancaster Grand Prix a week earlier.
For DRAFT Racing — a Bristol-based squad that secured its first external backing this winter and places enjoyment at the centre of its approach — it was a landmark result: the team’s first National A victory.
“What it means to the team is a lot,” Harris said. “They’ve never had a Nat A win before. It means so much to me to be able to show people what their trust in me means. I want cycling to be a fair, happy sport where everybody feels supported, because for me, that’s when I feel like my legs can do anything. It was a hard race — but I wanted a hard race.”
Behind Harris, the series contest tightened again. Under the separate National Road Series points scale, Martin earned 48 points for second while Yeoman collected 32 for 10th, reducing Yeoman’s advantage from 44 points to 28 with the Curlew Cup and North Yorkshire Grand Prix remaining.
Yeoman’s result, 1’35” behind Harris, was hard-earned salvage from a compromised week. Henchoz moved into third overall, while Powell’s podium continued an outstanding season.
In the team standings, the squeeze is the same: DAS–Hutchinson still lead, but Handsling Alba Development Road Team have closed to within 18 points, 570 to 552. Two leads to defend, then, and two rounds in which to defend them.
Huge thanks to Sarah King, Lucy Harris, Lucy Gadd, Tammy Miller, AeroCLCTV and Matt McHugh for their input for this report.
Results
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