2026 RTTC National Hill Climb Championships: preview
The National Hill Climb Championships go long on Sunday 25 October: 6.6 kilometres of Porlock Toll Road, where Ed Laverack and Andrew Feather look set to fight for the open title, Illi Gardner bids for a fourth women’s crown and Ezra Bateman has his eyes on the fastest time of the day.
Serene and peaceful, the Porlock Toll Road offers what is billed as a gentle, scenic alternative to the A39. Winding through Exmoor’s ancient woodland, the narrow road climbs for more than four miles to moorland views that stretch across the Bristol Channel to Swansea and the Gower Peninsula.
On Sunday 25 October, for the first time, it becomes a wall of sound. Thousands of spectators are expected to line its slopes as more than 500 riders take the not-so-gentle way up at the RTTC National Hill Climb Championships, one of the biggest days in British grassroots sport.
Featured image: Mark James
What is it?
First held in 1944, the National Hill Climb Championships are a fixture of the British autumn and one of the highlights of the domestic calendar. The race has helped launch the careers of some of Britain’s best-known riders, from Brian Robinson, winner on Mow Cop, ‘Britain’s toughest mile’, in 1952, to Nicole Cooke, who took the first women’s title on Dover’s Hill in 1998.
The format is simple: a time trial from the bottom of a hill to the top. Britain’s topography lends itself to short races up punishing gradients, and the best hill climbers can wring every ounce of effort from themselves in events that sometimes last little more than a minute.
With events every weekend through September and October, the National Championships are the culmination of the season in one of the sport’s friendliest disciplines. Steep roads are a great leveller, and the severity of the gradient and the British weather are always up for discussion afterwards over a slice of cake.
In recent years the championships have grown from an exclusive event into a spectacle of grassroots sport: a mass-participation event that turns into an elite showcase as the day goes on, with club riders sharing the road with the sport’s best on an equal footing and the atmosphere building by the hour.
Gabe Dellar. Image: Beard on a Bike
“It’s like definitely the most welcoming community you get in the whole cycling sphere,” says Gabe Dellar (RideRevolution Coaching CT), 5th in each of the last two editions, explaining what makes the hill climb season so special and why the National Championships remain the climax of his year.
“The number one is the atmosphere of the nationals. I think it is without a doubt the best atmosphere of any bike race you’ll get in the UK,” he adds.
A bit like people say the time trial is the race of truth. For me, I think it’s probably hill climbs
“And then it’s also, I like the fact that it’s just you against the hill. In 95% of road races, there’s so much more involved than how hard you can pedal. It’s obviously such a tactical affair, and that’s what makes road racing so beautiful as well. But I love the fact that it is just what you can do on the day, you versus the hill. There’s no crashes. There’s no tactics, and I think there’s something just so simple about it. A bit like people say the time trial is the race of truth. For me, I think it’s probably hill climbs.”
Sunday’s winners will go into the history books, and perhaps further. Two-time champion Dan Evans told The British Continental ahead of last year’s event that his 2014 victory on Pea Royd Lane changed his life, while Andrew Feather and defending champion Harry MacFarlane have taken the hill climb scene to new audiences through appearances on GCN and viral social media content. Pulling on the famous blue-and-red-banded jersey is only the start.
The course
Porlock Toll Road is a test with little precedent in the championship’s history. Not since the contentious choice of Long Hill in Derbyshire in 2011 has a climb of this length and profile been used for the season finale. The nearest recent comparison is Haytor Vale in 2019, where Ed Laverack and Hayley Simmonds took the titles and a number of road racers upset the specialists near the top of the results.
At 4.1 miles (6.6 kilometres), rising 357 metres at a fairly consistent average of 5.4%, the climb is markedly different from last year’s venue, Bank Road in Matlock, where the fastest times were a little over two minutes in a lung-busting effort.
Described as “claustrophobic” by local rider Geoff Ware, the narrow course starts near the village and spends its first 3 kilometres twisting through the trees before the first of two hairpins, the gradient a steady 6% and never more than 7%. The second hairpin, just after halfway, marks the hardest point on the hill, the sharp bend taking any momentum with it.
It is no race track, but the surface is smooth for a road battered by weather coming in off the Atlantic, and the elements will start to come into play as riders head for the summit. An easier section at 2% is the place to put the hammer down before the road kicks back up to its usual gradient for the final stretch.
“I’ve recced the climb, and it’s basically a 14-minute power test for the male winner. So everyone’s going to know roughly what they can do and to that extent, there’s not a lot else you can do other than just ride to your power,” says Dellar, who also expects rider weight to be decisive over this distance, unlike the more traditional hill climb courses where raw power and the ability to push to the absolute limit count for more.
Pacing will be crucial, and there has been much debate over which type of rider the parcours will suit. MacFarlane wondered on Instagram back in August whether a road rider might emerge to upset the specialists; others have asked whether a time trial specialist could take the title.
“It’s almost a different event,” says Dellar, who has never raced a hill of this length.
“I think it is playing into the hands of just whoever has the highest watts/kg threshold, basically. Andrew Feather and Ed Laverack, the likes of those people this year will be pretty confident. I think someone from the road scene could still surprise.
“Some liken it to a TT riders type of course, but I think it’s still short enough and steep enough that yeah it will go to someone who’s from the hill climb scene.”
The equipment
Equipment, as always, will be a big factor in who comes out on top. Hill climbs are as famous for their weird and wonderful bikes as for their terrifying gradients. CTT rules do away with the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit and leave almost anything with two wheels, brakes and front and rear lights as fair game. Drilled-out components, 10-speed groupsets and even fixed-wheel set-ups are commonplace, the aim being a machine under the mythical 5kg mark.
Porlock Toll Road is not a typical hill climb, though.
With the winner expected to average close to 30km/h, aerodynamics will play a major part, and power, weight and drag become a difficult triangle to balance.
“I’m going to use the bike that I’ve raced all year in the road season, just a modern disc brake aero bike, getting that as light as I can by doing small modifications without spending much money,” says Dellar, whose £1,000, sub-6kg hill climb bike will stay at home for the biggest race of the season.
“Equipment choice will play a far bigger part in these nationals than it has done in the past because I think [bike] weight is significantly less important than in the shorter climbs. [It’s] really fast, so being able to put your power up in the saddle on an aero position, skin suits, tyres, wheels, all of that stuff significantly outweighs the weight for sure. So I think we’ll see some pretty cool builds.”
Some may opt for a time trial bike, Dellar notes, though the technical nature of the course may cancel out the advantage.
Conditions
The heavy rain and storms forecast for much of Friday and Saturday should have cleared for all but the earliest starters on Sunday, leaving a strong westerly wind behind them.
With gusts of up to 80km/h forecast through the day, the exposed section of the climb could prove crucial, making bike handling as important as aerodynamics. Wet, shaded roads will also make tyre choice important: grip and puncture protection become a trade-off to weigh on a day when weight and rolling resistance would usually come first.
Riders to watch
Open
For all the talk of road riders and time triallists upsetting the applecart, the open race looks set to be a showdown between two former champions: Ed Laverack (Assos UK Race Team) and Andrew Feather (HuntBikeWheels.com).
Laverack won on Haytor Vale in 2019, a season he chronicled in his rider journal for The British Continental while racing for SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling, and is suited to longer climbs like this one. Having taken 2025 off to get married, the 32-year-old Welshman has slotted straight back in, winning two of the season’s most important races: comfortably on Porlock Toll Road itself in September, ahead of fellow Welshman Dan Evans, and more recently on Snake Pass, where he narrowly beat the rapidly rising junior Ezra Bateman.
Four-time champion Feather is chasing a fifth title, a mark last reached by Jim Henderson, and landed a psychological blow on Laverack at the Nebo Hill Climb, beating him by nine seconds over the 5-kilometre ascent with the pair a minute clear of everyone else. It suggests Feather’s work on his weakness over longer, shallower climbs is paying off: changes to his position, bike and technique have made him a different rider from the one who struggled to match Laverack on Haytor Vale seven years ago.
Ed Laverack. Image: James Little
The fight for the final podium place is wide open, with a number of hill climb specialists staking a claim.
Gabe Dellar wrote off his chances of bettering his two 5th places in his interview with The British Continental, but behind the underdog talk is a rider who has won eight races this season and was best of the rest behind Laverack and Bateman on Snake Pass. He has recced the climb, so there will be few surprises for a rider coming off the best road season of his career, and that could make all the difference on Sunday.
Team Lifting Gear Products have made the team prize their own in recent years, and in Kieran Wynne-Cattanach and Andy Nichols they again have two contenders for the individual title. Sheffield’s Nichols, bronze medallist on Winnats Pass in 2021, flew up Bank Road last Sunday, though Porlock is a different challenge for a light, punchy rider.
Wynne-Cattanach ran MacFarlane close last year, and the two-time defending champion is absent through illness this time. The Welshman comes in off a summer of running and 8th place at the Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross, and has shown he can mix it on all kinds of climb by winning on the Struggle in the Lake District this season, scene of Feather’s fourth title in 2023. The Toll Road is a different test again, but with a 12-minute win in his legs he should be confident of a strong ride.
Andrew Feather. Image: Mark James
Of the road riders who could spring a surprise, Josh Hall (Nopinz RT) is one to watch, having set the fastest time at the Fred Whitton Challenge this summer and won the Zig Zag Hill Climb most recently. Rowan Baker (JAKROO Handsling Racing) makes his championship debut on the back of a win at Cragg Vale, billed as England’s longest continuous climb. Winner of the East Cleveland Classic in 2024, Baker knows how to win a big race and could still play a part despite not challenging for the podium on Snake Pass.
Matt Rossiter (WattShop) is an intriguing entrant on the reserves list. He took the National 10 title in August, lowering the O10/1 course record significantly, and has held his form, winning the CTT Closed Circuit Championships just two weeks ago. A former rower, he is well versed in both aerodynamics and threshold efforts.
Away from the individual contest, Assos UK Race Team could challenge Team Lifting Gear Products for the team title. Laverack is joined by Evans, a two-time champion who favours longer climbs, and Giles Drake, the veteran cyclo-cross rider who ran Lachlan Morton to within a tyre’s width at the Three Peaks last month. It is the first time the three have raced together as a team.
Women
If the open race promises a duel, the women’s event could be a coronation, with Illi Gardner (Cardiff Ajax CC) in fine shape to win a fourth title after losing to Rachel Galler 12 months ago.
A climber of WorldTour calibre, Gardner has raced outside the professional ranks since leaving road racing behind. The former Everesting world record holder showed what she is capable of on Bushcombe Lane this season, winning by more than three minutes on a savage course with gradients of up to 1-in-4, in a time that would have placed her 5th in the open event.
Shocks do happen, as Rachel Galler (FTP–Fulfil The Potential Racing) proved last year. The defending champion is unbeaten this season, with wins on Monsal Head and, most recently, Bank Road. Her out-of-the-saddle style suits shorter efforts, though, and it is unclear whether she has the endurance to challenge Gardner here.
Rachel Galler. Image: Beard on a Bike
Her teammate Anna Boniface won on Porlock Toll Road at the championship’s dress rehearsal last month, a result that puts her in the mix, while Rebecca Richardson (Team Lifting Gear Products) is an experienced, consistent performer who has shown strong form on longer climbs all season. She will not be fazed by the conditions: she used every marginal gain available, including keeping her coat on until the last possible second, to take a medal on Winnats Pass in the dreadful weather of 2021.
Karolina Zydelyte (Dulwich Paragon CC) has only one hill climb result to her name, but her eight-minute ascent of Toys Hill, where she put more than 20 seconds into riders including Sannah Zaman, makes her a contender. Maria Holdcroft (Cowley Road Condors CC) won the Bec CC event before narrowly beating Boniface on the Wytham Woods climb in Oxfordshire.
Three seconds behind Holdcroft that day was her clubmate Lucy Harris, winner of the 2025 ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic and this year’s South Molton Grand Prix. The former UCI Continental rider won the road bike classification at the CTT Closed Circuit Championships this month, and her road palmarès and form give her a good chance of springing a surprise.
Anna Boniface. Image: Mark James
Ella Tandy (Solihull CC) came within four seconds of the junior title three years ago, missing out to Ruby Isaac on the Struggle. Having spent much of 2026 racing in Belgium with Simpson Nouvelles, the 19-year-old arrives in good form, and the demands of kermesse racing are not unlike those of the Toll Road.
Among the time triallists, National 10 champion Jessica Disley (AeroCoach) has all but ruled herself out, believing her power-to-weight ratio is not up to it, while veteran Joanna Brewis (ADDFORM Vive Le Velo), who won the 2025 National 10 on an exceptionally hilly course in Cornwall, is a dark horse for the podium.
Junior open
If Gardner offers near certainty in the women’s event, Ezra Bateman (Decathlon CMA CGM Juniors) offers the same in the junior open race, and the chance to carry on where three-time winner Harry Hudson left off.
Scarborough’s Bateman has raised the bar this year. In three outings he has won on Mam Nick, run Laverack within a whisker on Snake Pass and equalled Tom Bell’s course record on Prospect Hill. Nothing is certain, but with the junior title close to a formality, his eyes will be on the bigger prize: the fastest time of the day.
Should he manage it, going one better than Hudson did in 2024, the question of whether Cycling Time Trials should change its rules to let juniors into the senior results will be raised again. With younger riders rising at every level of the sport, the ‘Harry Hudson question’ is not going away.
Ezra Bateman. Image: Andy Jones
Bateman does have competition. Finley Hudson (Harrogate Nova Race Team) is looking to follow his brother to the title, while his teammate Matthew Fletcher showed his class with two top-five finishes at the Catford and Bec double-header in the South East. Ed Stubbs (3C Test Team) was 7th on Mam Nick, a minute behind Bateman, and Gus Dutton (camsmajaco) is a dark horse from the road on his hill climb debut.
Junior women
The junior women’s competition looks wide open, with no heir apparent to Ruby Isaac on the startlist. Mabli Phillips (Shibden CC) is the biggest name on paper to make the journey to the South West. The junior national road race champion has never raced a hill climb, but has plenty of talent and experience, at home and on the continent, to call on.
Mabli Phillips. Image: Joe Hudson
Eleanor Thompson (Team Ohten) and Rianna Mahoney (4T+ Cyclopark) finished first and second on the short, steep Catford CC climb and will look to challenge her, while Skye Martingale (Enhance-d Club) brings a strong time trial pedigree.
Finally, Seren Thomas (camsmajaco) is another promising road rider ending her season on the Toll Road. Declared on a time trial bike, she would add a hill climb title to her multiple track honours.
Start times
The first of 520 starters sets off at 09:30, and the last, Wynne-Cattanach, at 14:20. The table below lists every rider named in this preview, plus the seeded riders in each category: the final ten starters in the open and women’s races, and the juniors in the late seeded block from 14:03. Riders are listed in start order. The full start sheet is on the Cycling Time Trials website.
Serene and peaceful, the Porlock Toll Road offers what is billed as a gentle, scenic alternative to the A39. Winding through Exmoor’s ancient woodland, the narrow road climbs for more than four miles to moorland views that stretch across the Bristol Channel to Swansea and the Gower Peninsula.
On Sunday 25 October, for the first time, it becomes a wall of sound. Thousands of spectators are expected to line its slopes as more than 500 riders take the not-so-gentle way up at the RTTC National Hill Climb Championships, one of the biggest days in British grassroots sport.
Featured image: Mark James
What is it?
First held in 1944, the National Hill Climb Championships are a fixture of the British autumn and one of the highlights of the domestic calendar. The race has helped launch the careers of some of Britain’s best-known riders, from Brian Robinson, winner on Mow Cop, ‘Britain’s toughest mile’, in 1952, to Nicole Cooke, who took the first women’s title on Dover’s Hill in 1998.
The format is simple: a time trial from the bottom of a hill to the top. Britain’s topography lends itself to short races up punishing gradients, and the best hill climbers can wring every ounce of effort from themselves in events that sometimes last little more than a minute.
With events every weekend through September and October, the National Championships are the culmination of the season in one of the sport’s friendliest disciplines. Steep roads are a great leveller, and the severity of the gradient and the British weather are always up for discussion afterwards over a slice of cake.
In recent years the championships have grown from an exclusive event into a spectacle of grassroots sport: a mass-participation event that turns into an elite showcase as the day goes on, with club riders sharing the road with the sport’s best on an equal footing and the atmosphere building by the hour.
“It’s like definitely the most welcoming community you get in the whole cycling sphere,” says Gabe Dellar (RideRevolution Coaching CT), 5th in each of the last two editions, explaining what makes the hill climb season so special and why the National Championships remain the climax of his year.
“The number one is the atmosphere of the nationals. I think it is without a doubt the best atmosphere of any bike race you’ll get in the UK,” he adds.
“And then it’s also, I like the fact that it’s just you against the hill. In 95% of road races, there’s so much more involved than how hard you can pedal. It’s obviously such a tactical affair, and that’s what makes road racing so beautiful as well. But I love the fact that it is just what you can do on the day, you versus the hill. There’s no crashes. There’s no tactics, and I think there’s something just so simple about it. A bit like people say the time trial is the race of truth. For me, I think it’s probably hill climbs.”
Sunday’s winners will go into the history books, and perhaps further. Two-time champion Dan Evans told The British Continental ahead of last year’s event that his 2014 victory on Pea Royd Lane changed his life, while Andrew Feather and defending champion Harry MacFarlane have taken the hill climb scene to new audiences through appearances on GCN and viral social media content. Pulling on the famous blue-and-red-banded jersey is only the start.
The course
Porlock Toll Road is a test with little precedent in the championship’s history. Not since the contentious choice of Long Hill in Derbyshire in 2011 has a climb of this length and profile been used for the season finale. The nearest recent comparison is Haytor Vale in 2019, where Ed Laverack and Hayley Simmonds took the titles and a number of road racers upset the specialists near the top of the results.
At 4.1 miles (6.6 kilometres), rising 357 metres at a fairly consistent average of 5.4%, the climb is markedly different from last year’s venue, Bank Road in Matlock, where the fastest times were a little over two minutes in a lung-busting effort.
Described as “claustrophobic” by local rider Geoff Ware, the narrow course starts near the village and spends its first 3 kilometres twisting through the trees before the first of two hairpins, the gradient a steady 6% and never more than 7%. The second hairpin, just after halfway, marks the hardest point on the hill, the sharp bend taking any momentum with it.
It is no race track, but the surface is smooth for a road battered by weather coming in off the Atlantic, and the elements will start to come into play as riders head for the summit. An easier section at 2% is the place to put the hammer down before the road kicks back up to its usual gradient for the final stretch.
“I’ve recced the climb, and it’s basically a 14-minute power test for the male winner. So everyone’s going to know roughly what they can do and to that extent, there’s not a lot else you can do other than just ride to your power,” says Dellar, who also expects rider weight to be decisive over this distance, unlike the more traditional hill climb courses where raw power and the ability to push to the absolute limit count for more.
Pacing will be crucial, and there has been much debate over which type of rider the parcours will suit. MacFarlane wondered on Instagram back in August whether a road rider might emerge to upset the specialists; others have asked whether a time trial specialist could take the title.
“It’s almost a different event,” says Dellar, who has never raced a hill of this length.
“I think it is playing into the hands of just whoever has the highest watts/kg threshold, basically. Andrew Feather and Ed Laverack, the likes of those people this year will be pretty confident. I think someone from the road scene could still surprise.
“Some liken it to a TT riders type of course, but I think it’s still short enough and steep enough that yeah it will go to someone who’s from the hill climb scene.”
The equipment
Equipment, as always, will be a big factor in who comes out on top. Hill climbs are as famous for their weird and wonderful bikes as for their terrifying gradients. CTT rules do away with the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit and leave almost anything with two wheels, brakes and front and rear lights as fair game. Drilled-out components, 10-speed groupsets and even fixed-wheel set-ups are commonplace, the aim being a machine under the mythical 5kg mark.
Porlock Toll Road is not a typical hill climb, though.
With the winner expected to average close to 30km/h, aerodynamics will play a major part, and power, weight and drag become a difficult triangle to balance.
“I’m going to use the bike that I’ve raced all year in the road season, just a modern disc brake aero bike, getting that as light as I can by doing small modifications without spending much money,” says Dellar, whose £1,000, sub-6kg hill climb bike will stay at home for the biggest race of the season.
“Equipment choice will play a far bigger part in these nationals than it has done in the past because I think [bike] weight is significantly less important than in the shorter climbs. [It’s] really fast, so being able to put your power up in the saddle on an aero position, skin suits, tyres, wheels, all of that stuff significantly outweighs the weight for sure. So I think we’ll see some pretty cool builds.”
Some may opt for a time trial bike, Dellar notes, though the technical nature of the course may cancel out the advantage.
Conditions
The heavy rain and storms forecast for much of Friday and Saturday should have cleared for all but the earliest starters on Sunday, leaving a strong westerly wind behind them.
With gusts of up to 80km/h forecast through the day, the exposed section of the climb could prove crucial, making bike handling as important as aerodynamics. Wet, shaded roads will also make tyre choice important: grip and puncture protection become a trade-off to weigh on a day when weight and rolling resistance would usually come first.
Riders to watch
Open
For all the talk of road riders and time triallists upsetting the applecart, the open race looks set to be a showdown between two former champions: Ed Laverack (Assos UK Race Team) and Andrew Feather (HuntBikeWheels.com).
Laverack won on Haytor Vale in 2019, a season he chronicled in his rider journal for The British Continental while racing for SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling, and is suited to longer climbs like this one. Having taken 2025 off to get married, the 32-year-old Welshman has slotted straight back in, winning two of the season’s most important races: comfortably on Porlock Toll Road itself in September, ahead of fellow Welshman Dan Evans, and more recently on Snake Pass, where he narrowly beat the rapidly rising junior Ezra Bateman.
Four-time champion Feather is chasing a fifth title, a mark last reached by Jim Henderson, and landed a psychological blow on Laverack at the Nebo Hill Climb, beating him by nine seconds over the 5-kilometre ascent with the pair a minute clear of everyone else. It suggests Feather’s work on his weakness over longer, shallower climbs is paying off: changes to his position, bike and technique have made him a different rider from the one who struggled to match Laverack on Haytor Vale seven years ago.
The fight for the final podium place is wide open, with a number of hill climb specialists staking a claim.
Gabe Dellar wrote off his chances of bettering his two 5th places in his interview with The British Continental, but behind the underdog talk is a rider who has won eight races this season and was best of the rest behind Laverack and Bateman on Snake Pass. He has recced the climb, so there will be few surprises for a rider coming off the best road season of his career, and that could make all the difference on Sunday.
Team Lifting Gear Products have made the team prize their own in recent years, and in Kieran Wynne-Cattanach and Andy Nichols they again have two contenders for the individual title. Sheffield’s Nichols, bronze medallist on Winnats Pass in 2021, flew up Bank Road last Sunday, though Porlock is a different challenge for a light, punchy rider.
Wynne-Cattanach ran MacFarlane close last year, and the two-time defending champion is absent through illness this time. The Welshman comes in off a summer of running and 8th place at the Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross, and has shown he can mix it on all kinds of climb by winning on the Struggle in the Lake District this season, scene of Feather’s fourth title in 2023. The Toll Road is a different test again, but with a 12-minute win in his legs he should be confident of a strong ride.
Of the road riders who could spring a surprise, Josh Hall (Nopinz RT) is one to watch, having set the fastest time at the Fred Whitton Challenge this summer and won the Zig Zag Hill Climb most recently. Rowan Baker (JAKROO Handsling Racing) makes his championship debut on the back of a win at Cragg Vale, billed as England’s longest continuous climb. Winner of the East Cleveland Classic in 2024, Baker knows how to win a big race and could still play a part despite not challenging for the podium on Snake Pass.
Matt Rossiter (WattShop) is an intriguing entrant on the reserves list. He took the National 10 title in August, lowering the O10/1 course record significantly, and has held his form, winning the CTT Closed Circuit Championships just two weeks ago. A former rower, he is well versed in both aerodynamics and threshold efforts.
Away from the individual contest, Assos UK Race Team could challenge Team Lifting Gear Products for the team title. Laverack is joined by Evans, a two-time champion who favours longer climbs, and Giles Drake, the veteran cyclo-cross rider who ran Lachlan Morton to within a tyre’s width at the Three Peaks last month. It is the first time the three have raced together as a team.
Women
If the open race promises a duel, the women’s event could be a coronation, with Illi Gardner (Cardiff Ajax CC) in fine shape to win a fourth title after losing to Rachel Galler 12 months ago.
A climber of WorldTour calibre, Gardner has raced outside the professional ranks since leaving road racing behind. The former Everesting world record holder showed what she is capable of on Bushcombe Lane this season, winning by more than three minutes on a savage course with gradients of up to 1-in-4, in a time that would have placed her 5th in the open event.
Shocks do happen, as Rachel Galler (FTP–Fulfil The Potential Racing) proved last year. The defending champion is unbeaten this season, with wins on Monsal Head and, most recently, Bank Road. Her out-of-the-saddle style suits shorter efforts, though, and it is unclear whether she has the endurance to challenge Gardner here.
Her teammate Anna Boniface won on Porlock Toll Road at the championship’s dress rehearsal last month, a result that puts her in the mix, while Rebecca Richardson (Team Lifting Gear Products) is an experienced, consistent performer who has shown strong form on longer climbs all season. She will not be fazed by the conditions: she used every marginal gain available, including keeping her coat on until the last possible second, to take a medal on Winnats Pass in the dreadful weather of 2021.
Karolina Zydelyte (Dulwich Paragon CC) has only one hill climb result to her name, but her eight-minute ascent of Toys Hill, where she put more than 20 seconds into riders including Sannah Zaman, makes her a contender. Maria Holdcroft (Cowley Road Condors CC) won the Bec CC event before narrowly beating Boniface on the Wytham Woods climb in Oxfordshire.
Three seconds behind Holdcroft that day was her clubmate Lucy Harris, winner of the 2025 ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic and this year’s South Molton Grand Prix. The former UCI Continental rider won the road bike classification at the CTT Closed Circuit Championships this month, and her road palmarès and form give her a good chance of springing a surprise.
Ella Tandy (Solihull CC) came within four seconds of the junior title three years ago, missing out to Ruby Isaac on the Struggle. Having spent much of 2026 racing in Belgium with Simpson Nouvelles, the 19-year-old arrives in good form, and the demands of kermesse racing are not unlike those of the Toll Road.
Among the time triallists, National 10 champion Jessica Disley (AeroCoach) has all but ruled herself out, believing her power-to-weight ratio is not up to it, while veteran Joanna Brewis (ADDFORM Vive Le Velo), who won the 2025 National 10 on an exceptionally hilly course in Cornwall, is a dark horse for the podium.
Junior open
If Gardner offers near certainty in the women’s event, Ezra Bateman (Decathlon CMA CGM Juniors) offers the same in the junior open race, and the chance to carry on where three-time winner Harry Hudson left off.
Scarborough’s Bateman has raised the bar this year. In three outings he has won on Mam Nick, run Laverack within a whisker on Snake Pass and equalled Tom Bell’s course record on Prospect Hill. Nothing is certain, but with the junior title close to a formality, his eyes will be on the bigger prize: the fastest time of the day.
Should he manage it, going one better than Hudson did in 2024, the question of whether Cycling Time Trials should change its rules to let juniors into the senior results will be raised again. With younger riders rising at every level of the sport, the ‘Harry Hudson question’ is not going away.
Bateman does have competition. Finley Hudson (Harrogate Nova Race Team) is looking to follow his brother to the title, while his teammate Matthew Fletcher showed his class with two top-five finishes at the Catford and Bec double-header in the South East. Ed Stubbs (3C Test Team) was 7th on Mam Nick, a minute behind Bateman, and Gus Dutton (camsmajaco) is a dark horse from the road on his hill climb debut.
Junior women
The junior women’s competition looks wide open, with no heir apparent to Ruby Isaac on the startlist. Mabli Phillips (Shibden CC) is the biggest name on paper to make the journey to the South West. The junior national road race champion has never raced a hill climb, but has plenty of talent and experience, at home and on the continent, to call on.
Eleanor Thompson (Team Ohten) and Rianna Mahoney (4T+ Cyclopark) finished first and second on the short, steep Catford CC climb and will look to challenge her, while Skye Martingale (Enhance-d Club) brings a strong time trial pedigree.
Finally, Seren Thomas (camsmajaco) is another promising road rider ending her season on the Toll Road. Declared on a time trial bike, she would add a hill climb title to her multiple track honours.
Start times
The first of 520 starters sets off at 09:30, and the last, Wynne-Cattanach, at 14:20. The table below lists every rider named in this preview, plus the seeded riders in each category: the final ten starters in the open and women’s races, and the juniors in the late seeded block from 14:03. Riders are listed in start order. The full start sheet is on the Cycling Time Trials website.
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