Callum Laborde won the 2026 National Circuit Series without winning a round, finishing in the top 10 in all six. The Ornata Factory Racing rider talks to Jack Beavis about reading a race, the local bike brand behind him, his time away from the sport, and why he thinks he is here to stay.
There isn’t much time for riders at the forefront of Britain’s domestic scene to reflect on their success, something that Callum Laborde knows only too well.
As the streetlights began to dominate the twilight sky above Sheffield City Hall in late July, the newly crowned National Circuit Series champion sat on the edge of the podium, alone. A rare moment of solitude amongst the chaos of a post-criterium hustle and bustle; a rare opportunity for Laborde to begin to reflect on what he had achieved.
I still think, has this actually happened, or is there another one left?
“It doesn’t really settle in. I still think, has this actually happened, or is there another one left?” he reflects, speaking to The British Continental a week later from the Norfolk bike shop where he works, dutifully back on shift the day after his fifth place in the Steel City.
“[I] finished Sheffield. Got back at half two. Back in work at eight. Life moves on straight away, doesn’t it?” he continues, looking back on an action-packed 50 minutes in which his confidence in his sprint proved well placed, title rival Ollie Wood won from a four-rider break, and eventual Rapha Super-League champion Tom Armstrong’s hopes of the series crown were ended by an early crash.
Laborde at the 2026 Sheffield Grand Prix. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
“I went into the race wanting to win it, the result will be what it’ll be, you know, because Tom had to do exactly the same thing, Ollie had to do the same thing,” he explains, the complex mathematical puzzle of potential series outcomes made simpler once word of Armstrong’s issues had spread after a frantic opening 15 minutes.
“Once that changed, I knew I wasn’t coming back [to the front group], so just don’t let anyone else go across, and risk the sprint,” he says of his plan, powering through the final corner with a clear gap on the final lap to execute it perfectly.
Laborde’s fifth place added to his impressive consistency over the six-round series—the Ornata Factory Racing jersey he was sporting not seen finishing outside of the top 10 once, from the fast-flowing oval circuit in Colne to the city-centre cobbles of Sheffield over a month later.
It’s just being quite assertive and dominant with positioning, and not letting people jump on the wheel in front of you and just holding it
The reason?
“Just being able to read a race, I think. Not legs,” he explains modestly. “It’s just being quite assertive and dominant with positioning, and not letting people jump on the wheel in front of you and just holding it.
“It’s just confidence building from results as well, knowing you can be there. But yeah, it’s definitely not legs. It’s fair to say. I think that shows that I can’t finish a race off, but I can be there or thereabouts.”
Laborde’s title charge started in earnest in Guildford, a race that defines the diagnosis just given. Going toe-to-toe with defending champion, former teammate, and race winner Armstrong, Laborde finished just shy of the podium in fourth, emerging from the battle with the series lead.
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
“It was never a goal for the season, but when that opportunity came in Guildford, I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he reveals, his reward coming nine days later in the seaside town of Dawlish—Laborde the first rider called to the line, resplendent in a custom-made leader’s skinsuit.
“We tried to act so quickly to get [the skinsuit] because it’s quite a big thing for Ornata. It’s quite a big thing for me—I might not have that opportunity again,” Laborde notes. He has ridden most of the last two seasons as something of an independent, backed by the local bike brand after forming a friendship with the company’s founder through the local cyclocross league.
“Trevor [Ardley], he’s always had the idea of building a bike. I think he got bored one day, to be honest, and started playing around. Then three, four years ago, he said, ‘Oh, I got a bike for you.’ And it was crap!” he laughs, recalling how their relationship started.
“The first bike was terrible—it broke, but since then I’ve been testing the bikes for him, risking my life for the right frame. At the beginning of last year, he’s like, ‘Look, I’ll give you a couple bikes to race on,’ and it’s just built from there, really—they’re now really good, and he’s always been there for me, supporting me, going through the tough times.”
By his own admission Laborde has “dibbed and dabbed” in the sport since joining Wheelbase CabTech Castelli as a first-year U23 in 2023—impressive results across the disciplines in the junior ranks a precursor to the glimpses of talent he has often shown, his progress disrupted by both personal and sporting issues over the past few seasons.
My sister went into hospital with anorexia, and it just kind of took a mental knock on me, on my family
“Around that time coming out of juniors and going into U23, my sister went into hospital with anorexia, and it just kind of took a mental knock on me, on my family. There was a lot of travel to see her to and from Norwich to London, three or four times a week. It’s just working and finding time to ride,” he explains candidly. His sister’s recovery was marked by a return to form in the cyclocross field across the autumn of 2023, with non-selection for the Great Britain U23 World Cup squads a bitter pill to swallow.
Racing cyclocross in 2023 for Wheelbase CabTech Castelli. Image: Mathew Wells/SWpix.com
“I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting selected—I was beating people who were going, and I got told I wasn’t consistent enough. It’s like, I can’t really be any more consistent than that,” he argues, pointing to an enviable record of three top-five finishes in the Elite National Trophy from the first four rounds.
Even now when I go into races I don’t put any pressure on myself. It will be what it’ll be. I think that’s the best way of racing now
“I was doing everything I could, to almost [find that] your face doesn’t fit. That was quite hard.
“So that was another break as well—away from it for six, seven months, and yeah, I think it’s done me a lot of good. Just come into everything with no pressure, no expectations. Even now when I go into races I don’t put any pressure on myself. It will be what it’ll be. I think that’s the best way of racing now.”
Despite his relaxed approach, Laborde is not shy in admitting his next aim on the road is a National A win—be it in the shorter format or the National Road Series, where he points out he was perhaps closer to a breakthrough result than the results sheets show.
Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
“I was close to making that move and getting across to it with a lap to go [at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix],” he says as the conversation turns to 2027. His ambitions on the road are on hold until the end of the cyclocross season, which marks the beginning of his time in the elite ranks, despite Laborde only turning 22 this month.
“I’m at the very, very wrong end of it,” he explains. Born in October 2004, he misses the cut by less than three months: riders born before 2005 are ineligible for the U23 category this winter.
“It’s frustrating. I think [the governing bodies] do need to take a look at how they do things—they can’t have the same category for road and cross, it doesn’t make sense.
The goal is to just start, you know, jumping up—like hopefully racing at Conti level next year, and just keep building from there
“But obviously still only being 21, and still hopefully with a long way in the sport, the goal is to just start, you know, jumping up—like hopefully [racing at] Conti level next year, and just keep building from there, get some races abroad, some results abroad would be good. Just keep building slowly—like I said, there’s no pressure on myself. It’s just what will be, will be.”
A regular on the National B podium, Laborde reached a turning point on a bigger stage in 2026, his name added to a stellar list of circuit series winners that has included Malcolm Elliott, Graham Briggs, and Tom Armstrong over the past two decades—his former teammate using the win as a springboard to greater things this season, something Laborde will have noted.
“I think I’m here to stay now, I’m not going to be missing any more, especially after this season,” he forecasts, firing an optimistic early warning shot to his rivals ahead of a season where he will be looking to realise his full potential—the top step of the podium the aim, the pressure remaining very much off.
There isn’t much time for riders at the forefront of Britain’s domestic scene to reflect on their success, something that Callum Laborde knows only too well.
As the streetlights began to dominate the twilight sky above Sheffield City Hall in late July, the newly crowned National Circuit Series champion sat on the edge of the podium, alone. A rare moment of solitude amongst the chaos of a post-criterium hustle and bustle; a rare opportunity for Laborde to begin to reflect on what he had achieved.
“It doesn’t really settle in. I still think, has this actually happened, or is there another one left?” he reflects, speaking to The British Continental a week later from the Norfolk bike shop where he works, dutifully back on shift the day after his fifth place in the Steel City.
“[I] finished Sheffield. Got back at half two. Back in work at eight. Life moves on straight away, doesn’t it?” he continues, looking back on an action-packed 50 minutes in which his confidence in his sprint proved well placed, title rival Ollie Wood won from a four-rider break, and eventual Rapha Super-League champion Tom Armstrong’s hopes of the series crown were ended by an early crash.
“I went into the race wanting to win it, the result will be what it’ll be, you know, because Tom had to do exactly the same thing, Ollie had to do the same thing,” he explains, the complex mathematical puzzle of potential series outcomes made simpler once word of Armstrong’s issues had spread after a frantic opening 15 minutes.
“Once that changed, I knew I wasn’t coming back [to the front group], so just don’t let anyone else go across, and risk the sprint,” he says of his plan, powering through the final corner with a clear gap on the final lap to execute it perfectly.
Laborde’s fifth place added to his impressive consistency over the six-round series—the Ornata Factory Racing jersey he was sporting not seen finishing outside of the top 10 once, from the fast-flowing oval circuit in Colne to the city-centre cobbles of Sheffield over a month later.
The reason?
“Just being able to read a race, I think. Not legs,” he explains modestly. “It’s just being quite assertive and dominant with positioning, and not letting people jump on the wheel in front of you and just holding it.
“It’s just confidence building from results as well, knowing you can be there. But yeah, it’s definitely not legs. It’s fair to say. I think that shows that I can’t finish a race off, but I can be there or thereabouts.”
Laborde’s title charge started in earnest in Guildford, a race that defines the diagnosis just given. Going toe-to-toe with defending champion, former teammate, and race winner Armstrong, Laborde finished just shy of the podium in fourth, emerging from the battle with the series lead.
“It was never a goal for the season, but when that opportunity came in Guildford, I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he reveals, his reward coming nine days later in the seaside town of Dawlish—Laborde the first rider called to the line, resplendent in a custom-made leader’s skinsuit.
“We tried to act so quickly to get [the skinsuit] because it’s quite a big thing for Ornata. It’s quite a big thing for me—I might not have that opportunity again,” Laborde notes. He has ridden most of the last two seasons as something of an independent, backed by the local bike brand after forming a friendship with the company’s founder through the local cyclocross league.
“Trevor [Ardley], he’s always had the idea of building a bike. I think he got bored one day, to be honest, and started playing around. Then three, four years ago, he said, ‘Oh, I got a bike for you.’ And it was crap!” he laughs, recalling how their relationship started.
“The first bike was terrible—it broke, but since then I’ve been testing the bikes for him, risking my life for the right frame. At the beginning of last year, he’s like, ‘Look, I’ll give you a couple bikes to race on,’ and it’s just built from there, really—they’re now really good, and he’s always been there for me, supporting me, going through the tough times.”
By his own admission Laborde has “dibbed and dabbed” in the sport since joining Wheelbase CabTech Castelli as a first-year U23 in 2023—impressive results across the disciplines in the junior ranks a precursor to the glimpses of talent he has often shown, his progress disrupted by both personal and sporting issues over the past few seasons.
“Around that time coming out of juniors and going into U23, my sister went into hospital with anorexia, and it just kind of took a mental knock on me, on my family. There was a lot of travel to see her to and from Norwich to London, three or four times a week. It’s just working and finding time to ride,” he explains candidly. His sister’s recovery was marked by a return to form in the cyclocross field across the autumn of 2023, with non-selection for the Great Britain U23 World Cup squads a bitter pill to swallow.
“I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting selected—I was beating people who were going, and I got told I wasn’t consistent enough. It’s like, I can’t really be any more consistent than that,” he argues, pointing to an enviable record of three top-five finishes in the Elite National Trophy from the first four rounds.
“I was doing everything I could, to almost [find that] your face doesn’t fit. That was quite hard.
“So that was another break as well—away from it for six, seven months, and yeah, I think it’s done me a lot of good. Just come into everything with no pressure, no expectations. Even now when I go into races I don’t put any pressure on myself. It will be what it’ll be. I think that’s the best way of racing now.”
Despite his relaxed approach, Laborde is not shy in admitting his next aim on the road is a National A win—be it in the shorter format or the National Road Series, where he points out he was perhaps closer to a breakthrough result than the results sheets show.
“I was close to making that move and getting across to it with a lap to go [at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix],” he says as the conversation turns to 2027. His ambitions on the road are on hold until the end of the cyclocross season, which marks the beginning of his time in the elite ranks, despite Laborde only turning 22 this month.
“I’m at the very, very wrong end of it,” he explains. Born in October 2004, he misses the cut by less than three months: riders born before 2005 are ineligible for the U23 category this winter.
“It’s frustrating. I think [the governing bodies] do need to take a look at how they do things—they can’t have the same category for road and cross, it doesn’t make sense.
“But obviously still only being 21, and still hopefully with a long way in the sport, the goal is to just start, you know, jumping up—like hopefully [racing at] Conti level next year, and just keep building from there, get some races abroad, some results abroad would be good. Just keep building slowly—like I said, there’s no pressure on myself. It’s just what will be, will be.”
A regular on the National B podium, Laborde reached a turning point on a bigger stage in 2026, his name added to a stellar list of circuit series winners that has included Malcolm Elliott, Graham Briggs, and Tom Armstrong over the past two decades—his former teammate using the win as a springboard to greater things this season, something Laborde will have noted.
“I think I’m here to stay now, I’m not going to be missing any more, especially after this season,” he forecasts, firing an optimistic early warning shot to his rivals ahead of a season where he will be looking to realise his full potential—the top step of the podium the aim, the pressure remaining very much off.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Share this:
Discover more from The British Continental
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.