Katie Scott and Ollie Wood took the wins under Sheffield's city-centre lights as the National Circuit Series was decided: Isabel Mayes claimed the women's title by seven points with a perfectly judged 14th place, while Callum Laborde sealed the open crown with a battling fifth.
Katie Scott soloed to a 37-second win in the Schwalbe Women’s Grand Prix to cap a DAS–Hutchinson masterclass under Sheffield’s city-centre lights, while Rapha Cycling Club’s Ollie Wood outsprinted a four-rider break to take the Grasscrete Open Grand Prix, seven years on from his first victory here.
The night belonged, though, to the new National Circuit Series champions: Isabel Mayes (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes), whose perfectly judged 14th place secured the women’s title by seven points, and Callum Laborde (Ornata Factory Racing), who sealed the open crown with a battling fifth.
The Rapha Super-League shifted too: Wood’s win carried him past the stricken Tom Armstrong (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) into the open lead by just two points, while Morven Yeoman’s (DAS-Huthinson) fourth place stretched her women’s advantage to 35.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Report
Schwalbe Women’s Grand Prix
The equation at the start was finely poised. Barker’s 184 points led the series in absentia, her season now pointed at the Commonwealth Games; Mayes, on 164, needed 20th place or better to overhaul her, while Mari Porton (Handsling Alba Development Road Team) retained an outside route of her own with a podium finish. Only 14th or better would make Mayes champion regardless of what anyone else did.
Perhaps because of that arithmetic, the opening laps were dominated by action out the back of the peloton rather than off the front of it, as the major players decided to show their strength through relentless rhythm rather than all-out attack.
Mayes and Porton. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
DAS–Hutchinson were active early, Katie Scott injecting pace on the third lap, while teammate Morven Yeoman’s move off the front on the cobbled climb a lap later was short-lived—but it cut the peloton by eight riders, with national hill climb champion Rachel Galler (FTP–Fulfil The Potential–Racing) leading the chase back on.
Yeoman refused to be deterred, however, attacking during the sprint lap to take maximum points, with Daisy Taylor (The Hera Project) keeping her advantage to only a handful of seconds at the head of the peloton.
That advantage began to grow as Taylor was left to chase, Scott and her teammate Aoife O’Brien sitting behind her—the UCI Continental team playing an excellent tactical game in the first half of the race.
Sensing the race slipping away, Taylor drove hard at the halfway mark, cutting Yeoman’s advantage to just six seconds and fracturing the peloton, gaps appearing behind with Scott and O’Brien glued to her wheel. The race was all but together the following lap.
Yeoman. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
By the second of the sprints the situation had changed again: Scott this time the lone leader, her advantage quickly out to 13 seconds over a bunch led by Kim Baptista (DRAFT), and Yeoman now alongside O’Brien, the DAS–Hutchinson pairing ready to pounce should their teammate be brought back.
Local rider Millie Skinner (Paralloy RT) moved to the front of the 20-rider peloton to bolster the chase, but Scott looked composed out front, riding in the drops, her advantage becoming unassailable at 25 seconds.
Yeoman decided that was enough, attacking again with six laps to go, although the Scot was unable to get clear—the bunch appearing resigned to a fight for second place as they crossed the line the following lap, Scott fixed on the drops some 30 seconds ahead.
Scott wins. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Scott continued to apply the pressure as the laps ticked down, her advantage heading north of 40 seconds as she took the bell, Kirstie Drakeford (Jadan Glasdon pb Vive le Velo) leading the chase for second.
As Scott soloed to her first National Circuit Series win—after a similarly dominant victory in April’s East Cleveland Classic—it was O’Brien who won the sprint for second, completing a fine night for DAS–Hutchinson, with Loughborough Lightning’s Jenny Holl rounding out the podium ahead of the ever-active Yeoman, who had done so much to set up her teammate’s win.
Mayes, meanwhile, had judged her evening to perfection. Fourteenth place—precisely the finish that made the title hers regardless of Porton, who came home 19th—took her to 191 points and the series by seven from Barker. Xan Crees (OGT pb USE), sixth on the night, climbed to third overall on 168, ahead of Porton on 162.
Mayes celebrates the series victory. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Mayes leaves Sheffield with the sprint competition too, her 64 points putting her 18 clear of Yeoman—who won the first sprint of the night, with Scott taking the second. And Handsling Alba Development Road Team won the team series on 498 points despite starting only two riders, too few to score on the night: DAS–Hutchinson’s 142-point evening closed the final gap to 21.
The night reshaped the Rapha Super-League too, with Sheffield carrying the Cambridge Criterium’s classification this year. Yeoman’s fourth place stretched her lead over the absent Barker to 35 points—111 to 76—with two rounds remaining, Madeline Cooper holding third on 69. The big movers came from the front of the race: Scott’s victory carried her up nine places to fifth on 63, level with Daisy Taylor and teammate Noémie Thomson, while Kim Baptista’s fifth on the night lifted her to fourth on 65. Amy Henchoz (Paralloy RT), seventh across the line, jumped seven places into the top ten.
Grasscrete Open Grand Prix
In the open National Circuit Series, the overall battle centred on three riders: incumbent leader Callum Laborde (Ornata Factory Racing), his former Wheelbase CabTech Castelli teammate and Rapha Super-League leader Tom Armstrong, and Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix winner Ollie Wood (Rapha Cycling Club)—the final act of a titanic, series-long contest between consistency and moments of brilliance.
Wood, Laborde and Armstrong. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Armstrong made a concerted effort to get the crowd going as he made his way to the startline, and responded to their cheers with an early attack, latching onto the wheel of circuit race specialist Philip Large (Wold Top Pactimo) with Dawlish Grand Prix winner Frank Longstaff (DAS Richardsons) leading the chase—Laborde heading a strung-out peloton by the time the race crossed the finish line again.
The pace, unsurprisingly, was not relenting in the early laps—the 58-rider peloton single file as Large continued to pile on the pressure until he was relieved by Wood, Armstrong firmly in his wheel as he looked to set himself up for the 13 points he needed to usurp Laborde as series leader.
Five laps in the pressure began to tell as splits appeared, Thomas Mein (Hope Factory Racing), the multiple national cyclocross champion, coming to the front to set a new fastest lap and further hurt those battling to remain in the wheels.
The break. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
As the bell rang to signal the first sprint, the elastic snapped and a break of four established itself—Mein, Wood, the in-form Caleb Pain (Ride Revolution Coaching) and Aaron King (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli)—the quartet quickly taking an advantage of 15 seconds over a chasing group containing Laborde.
Notable by his absence in either group was Armstrong, who appeared to be struggling with a mechanical or the effects of a crash as he rode by almost in slow motion—his series hopes torn from him in the cruellest of ways.
With the leaders working well and four teams represented, the punch was quickly taken out of the chase and the gap went up fast—Laborde unwilling to do all the work in a group still containing the likes of Alec Briggs (TEKKERZ CC), and seemingly willing to settle for a fight for fifth place, with Matthew Lord (DAS Richardsons) taking up the pace-setting with a much-needed injection of power.
Out front, Mein led the leaders through the second sprint at the half-hour mark with a sharp acceleration, news reaching Laborde, who made a desperate effort to get across—his time off the front of the chase group brief, the pace taken out of the chase as he was caught within a lap, the gap to the four leaders now north of 40 seconds.
Laborde. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Lord continued to set the pace in the chase group, his teammate Longstaff poised behind for the sprint for the minor places in the wheel of Alex Beldon (Laval Cyclisme 53), the France-based Yorkshireman second last year and looking in good shape after starting towards the back of the grid.
Having come close at Dawlish last Friday, all eyes were on Pain and how he would play his cards at the front of the race as the laps ticked down, the quartet continuing to share the workload evenly, minds turning to the finish as the five-lap board made its appearance in the fading light. Behind, Daniel Barnes (Wold Top Pactimo) and Josh Housley (Ride Revolution Coaching) attacked to try to outfox the sprinters left in the chase group some 50 seconds back, series leader Laborde hovering near the front, knowing he needed to finish well in the group to take the overall.
As the bell tolled the leading quartet finally broke their truce, Pain left to lead out the final lap as Wood, King, and Mein almost came to a standstill; home team Cycling Sheffield came to the fore behind in an emotional last-ditch effort, to the delight of the local fans.
Wood wins. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
As the quartet approached the finishing line it was Wood who rounded the final corner first, sprinting to his second Sheffield victory after winning here all the way back in 2019. King was second, while Mein rounded out the podium; Pain again just missing out.
It was Laborde, though, who had the last laugh, the series leader sprinting to fifth with a brilliant turn of speed, pumping his fist as he crossed the line, delighted to take the National Circuit Series title after an epic battle across the country.
That fifth place—at the head of the bunch, 44 seconds down—sealed the series on 238 points, 12 clear of Wood, with King third on 208 and Armstrong, whose night ended four laps down in 35th, fourth on 190. The title comes with the sprint competition attached: Mein swept both sprints on the night, but Laborde’s 56 points held off Daniel Barnes by 14. And Wheelbase CabTech Castelli won the team series on 570 points from DAS Richardsons—fittingly sharing the night’s team classification with Ride Revolution Coaching, 93 points apiece.
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
The open Rapha Super-League changed hands too. Wood’s victory carried him past the stricken Armstrong into the series lead by just two points—127 to 125—with two rounds remaining and Laborde third on 94. King’s runner-up ride lifted him two places to fourth on 80, ahead of Matthew Bostock, who makes it two Rapha Cycling Club riders in the top five. King’s Wheelbase CabTech Castelli teammate Dexter Leeming-Sykes climbed six places to seventh on 53, level with Cameron Mason, while Benjamin Tuchner (TEKKERZ CC) made the same leap into the top ten on 50.
Katie Scott soloed to a 37-second win in the Schwalbe Women’s Grand Prix to cap a DAS–Hutchinson masterclass under Sheffield’s city-centre lights, while Rapha Cycling Club’s Ollie Wood outsprinted a four-rider break to take the Grasscrete Open Grand Prix, seven years on from his first victory here.
The night belonged, though, to the new National Circuit Series champions: Isabel Mayes (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes), whose perfectly judged 14th place secured the women’s title by seven points, and Callum Laborde (Ornata Factory Racing), who sealed the open crown with a battling fifth.
The Rapha Super-League shifted too: Wood’s win carried him past the stricken Tom Armstrong (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) into the open lead by just two points, while Morven Yeoman’s (DAS-Huthinson) fourth place stretched her women’s advantage to 35.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Report
Schwalbe Women’s Grand Prix
The equation at the start was finely poised. Barker’s 184 points led the series in absentia, her season now pointed at the Commonwealth Games; Mayes, on 164, needed 20th place or better to overhaul her, while Mari Porton (Handsling Alba Development Road Team) retained an outside route of her own with a podium finish. Only 14th or better would make Mayes champion regardless of what anyone else did.
Perhaps because of that arithmetic, the opening laps were dominated by action out the back of the peloton rather than off the front of it, as the major players decided to show their strength through relentless rhythm rather than all-out attack.
DAS–Hutchinson were active early, Katie Scott injecting pace on the third lap, while teammate Morven Yeoman’s move off the front on the cobbled climb a lap later was short-lived—but it cut the peloton by eight riders, with national hill climb champion Rachel Galler (FTP–Fulfil The Potential–Racing) leading the chase back on.
Yeoman refused to be deterred, however, attacking during the sprint lap to take maximum points, with Daisy Taylor (The Hera Project) keeping her advantage to only a handful of seconds at the head of the peloton.
That advantage began to grow as Taylor was left to chase, Scott and her teammate Aoife O’Brien sitting behind her—the UCI Continental team playing an excellent tactical game in the first half of the race.
Sensing the race slipping away, Taylor drove hard at the halfway mark, cutting Yeoman’s advantage to just six seconds and fracturing the peloton, gaps appearing behind with Scott and O’Brien glued to her wheel. The race was all but together the following lap.
By the second of the sprints the situation had changed again: Scott this time the lone leader, her advantage quickly out to 13 seconds over a bunch led by Kim Baptista (DRAFT), and Yeoman now alongside O’Brien, the DAS–Hutchinson pairing ready to pounce should their teammate be brought back.
Local rider Millie Skinner (Paralloy RT) moved to the front of the 20-rider peloton to bolster the chase, but Scott looked composed out front, riding in the drops, her advantage becoming unassailable at 25 seconds.
Yeoman decided that was enough, attacking again with six laps to go, although the Scot was unable to get clear—the bunch appearing resigned to a fight for second place as they crossed the line the following lap, Scott fixed on the drops some 30 seconds ahead.
Scott continued to apply the pressure as the laps ticked down, her advantage heading north of 40 seconds as she took the bell, Kirstie Drakeford (Jadan Glasdon pb Vive le Velo) leading the chase for second.
As Scott soloed to her first National Circuit Series win—after a similarly dominant victory in April’s East Cleveland Classic—it was O’Brien who won the sprint for second, completing a fine night for DAS–Hutchinson, with Loughborough Lightning’s Jenny Holl rounding out the podium ahead of the ever-active Yeoman, who had done so much to set up her teammate’s win.
Mayes, meanwhile, had judged her evening to perfection. Fourteenth place—precisely the finish that made the title hers regardless of Porton, who came home 19th—took her to 191 points and the series by seven from Barker. Xan Crees (OGT pb USE), sixth on the night, climbed to third overall on 168, ahead of Porton on 162.
Mayes leaves Sheffield with the sprint competition too, her 64 points putting her 18 clear of Yeoman—who won the first sprint of the night, with Scott taking the second. And Handsling Alba Development Road Team won the team series on 498 points despite starting only two riders, too few to score on the night: DAS–Hutchinson’s 142-point evening closed the final gap to 21.
The night reshaped the Rapha Super-League too, with Sheffield carrying the Cambridge Criterium’s classification this year. Yeoman’s fourth place stretched her lead over the absent Barker to 35 points—111 to 76—with two rounds remaining, Madeline Cooper holding third on 69. The big movers came from the front of the race: Scott’s victory carried her up nine places to fifth on 63, level with Daisy Taylor and teammate Noémie Thomson, while Kim Baptista’s fifth on the night lifted her to fourth on 65. Amy Henchoz (Paralloy RT), seventh across the line, jumped seven places into the top ten.
Grasscrete Open Grand Prix
In the open National Circuit Series, the overall battle centred on three riders: incumbent leader Callum Laborde (Ornata Factory Racing), his former Wheelbase CabTech Castelli teammate and Rapha Super-League leader Tom Armstrong, and Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix winner Ollie Wood (Rapha Cycling Club)—the final act of a titanic, series-long contest between consistency and moments of brilliance.
Armstrong made a concerted effort to get the crowd going as he made his way to the startline, and responded to their cheers with an early attack, latching onto the wheel of circuit race specialist Philip Large (Wold Top Pactimo) with Dawlish Grand Prix winner Frank Longstaff (DAS Richardsons) leading the chase—Laborde heading a strung-out peloton by the time the race crossed the finish line again.
The pace, unsurprisingly, was not relenting in the early laps—the 58-rider peloton single file as Large continued to pile on the pressure until he was relieved by Wood, Armstrong firmly in his wheel as he looked to set himself up for the 13 points he needed to usurp Laborde as series leader.
Five laps in the pressure began to tell as splits appeared, Thomas Mein (Hope Factory Racing), the multiple national cyclocross champion, coming to the front to set a new fastest lap and further hurt those battling to remain in the wheels.
As the bell rang to signal the first sprint, the elastic snapped and a break of four established itself—Mein, Wood, the in-form Caleb Pain (Ride Revolution Coaching) and Aaron King (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli)—the quartet quickly taking an advantage of 15 seconds over a chasing group containing Laborde.
Notable by his absence in either group was Armstrong, who appeared to be struggling with a mechanical or the effects of a crash as he rode by almost in slow motion—his series hopes torn from him in the cruellest of ways.
With the leaders working well and four teams represented, the punch was quickly taken out of the chase and the gap went up fast—Laborde unwilling to do all the work in a group still containing the likes of Alec Briggs (TEKKERZ CC), and seemingly willing to settle for a fight for fifth place, with Matthew Lord (DAS Richardsons) taking up the pace-setting with a much-needed injection of power.
Out front, Mein led the leaders through the second sprint at the half-hour mark with a sharp acceleration, news reaching Laborde, who made a desperate effort to get across—his time off the front of the chase group brief, the pace taken out of the chase as he was caught within a lap, the gap to the four leaders now north of 40 seconds.
Lord continued to set the pace in the chase group, his teammate Longstaff poised behind for the sprint for the minor places in the wheel of Alex Beldon (Laval Cyclisme 53), the France-based Yorkshireman second last year and looking in good shape after starting towards the back of the grid.
Having come close at Dawlish last Friday, all eyes were on Pain and how he would play his cards at the front of the race as the laps ticked down, the quartet continuing to share the workload evenly, minds turning to the finish as the five-lap board made its appearance in the fading light. Behind, Daniel Barnes (Wold Top Pactimo) and Josh Housley (Ride Revolution Coaching) attacked to try to outfox the sprinters left in the chase group some 50 seconds back, series leader Laborde hovering near the front, knowing he needed to finish well in the group to take the overall.
As the bell tolled the leading quartet finally broke their truce, Pain left to lead out the final lap as Wood, King, and Mein almost came to a standstill; home team Cycling Sheffield came to the fore behind in an emotional last-ditch effort, to the delight of the local fans.
As the quartet approached the finishing line it was Wood who rounded the final corner first, sprinting to his second Sheffield victory after winning here all the way back in 2019. King was second, while Mein rounded out the podium; Pain again just missing out.
It was Laborde, though, who had the last laugh, the series leader sprinting to fifth with a brilliant turn of speed, pumping his fist as he crossed the line, delighted to take the National Circuit Series title after an epic battle across the country.
That fifth place—at the head of the bunch, 44 seconds down—sealed the series on 238 points, 12 clear of Wood, with King third on 208 and Armstrong, whose night ended four laps down in 35th, fourth on 190. The title comes with the sprint competition attached: Mein swept both sprints on the night, but Laborde’s 56 points held off Daniel Barnes by 14. And Wheelbase CabTech Castelli won the team series on 570 points from DAS Richardsons—fittingly sharing the night’s team classification with Ride Revolution Coaching, 93 points apiece.
The open Rapha Super-League changed hands too. Wood’s victory carried him past the stricken Armstrong into the series lead by just two points—127 to 125—with two rounds remaining and Laborde third on 94. King’s runner-up ride lifted him two places to fourth on 80, ahead of Matthew Bostock, who makes it two Rapha Cycling Club riders in the top five. King’s Wheelbase CabTech Castelli teammate Dexter Leeming-Sykes climbed six places to seventh on 53, level with Cameron Mason, while Benjamin Tuchner (TEKKERZ CC) made the same leap into the top ten on 50.
Results
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