This Sunday’s North Lincolnshire Women’s Classic is poised to launch the domestic women’s road racing season with a bang.
Here is our preview and startlist.
Featured image: Ian Wrightson/The British Continental
What is it?
The inaugural North Lincolnshire Women’s Classic promises to be a crucial early-season test for the domestic women’s peloton. Launched by Generation Pro Cycling Events – the same team behind races like the Beverley Grand Prix and the Barnsley Town Centre Races – it offers riders a chance to shake off the winter cobwebs and hone their race craft before the spring calendar hits full throttle.
Set on the rolling Hainton circuit at the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, the route’s narrow lanes, punchy gradients, and potential for blustery March winds will demand both sharp positioning and a keen tactical edge. The Classic offers a high-intensity arena for those eager to size up the competition. For fans, it’s an early glimpse of who’s on song ahead of bigger fixtures like the Anexo CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic, the East Cleveland Classic, and the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix.
With a healthy prize fund and a genuine commitment to boosting the profile of women’s racing, the North Lincolnshire Women’s Classic aims to become a mainstay of the UK road scene – a stepping stone for riders and teams aiming to fine-tune their form ahead of bigger season targets.
Route
This year’s North Lincolnshire Women’s Classic unfolds on the rolling Hainton Circuit, a 105-kilometre affair that’s anything but a gentle introduction to the season. After a 6.2-kilometre neutralised rollout from Market Rasen, the racing will kick off in earnest, immediately greeting the peloton with the circuit’s undulating terrain. Six laps of this 16.6-kilometre loop will notch up more than 1,300 metres of climbing, thanks to a constant succession of drags and a punchy kicker about three kilometres from the finish line. While that climb isn’t especially steep – gradient hovers at around 8% – it’s likely to sting after a few laps and could prove a prime launchpad for decisive attacks.
Riders will also have to negotiate some tight, technical sections, so keeping a cool head – and a good position – will be critical. The finish itself is an uphill drag that stretches the legs for a few hundred metres. It’s neither punishingly steep nor pan-flat, but it could be just enough to separate those with serious early-season form from the rest of the pack. All told, the Hainton Circuit looks set to serve up a challenging early-season test for the women’s peloton.
Timings
The race begins at 10.00 and is due to finish at approximately 13.00.
How to follow
We hope to cover the race using our live ticker, which you will be able to follow on the day of the race here.
Contenders
The field might be compact but it’s strong, with plenty of representation from the UK’s five UCI Continental teams. Smurfit Westrock CT are the Conti team with the most representation, fielding a squad of six riders, so might be one of the teams that the peloton looks to to control affairs. Bexy Dew – 5th in 2024 Curlew Cup, serial top ten finisher in National B road races. Sian Botteley
We are looking forward to how new Handsling Alba Development Road Team recruit Mari Porton performs in her first race as an under-23. The 18-year-old was impressive last season, winning the Solihull CC Women’s Road Race, second in the Duncan Murray Wines Road Race and third at the Witham Hall Grand Prix in her final year as a junior, and, judging by those results, should suit this course.
Mari Porton wins the 2024 Solihull CC Road Race. Image: Mark James.
Holly Ramsey (Hess Cycling Team), 2nd last week at the Royal Navy Cup and 12th at last season’s Lancaster Grand Prix is another UCI Continental rider to watch.
Local team Brother UK – Team On Form fields no less than ten riders. While the development outfit might focus more on using the race to earn riders vital experience, the team could use its numerical strength to its advantage. And they have riders, such Amelia Staunton (2nd at Witham Hall Grand Prix, 3rd Welsh Road Race Championships in 2024) who are more than capable of a trip to podium.
Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne – two-time national B road race winner last year, is doing things her own way in 2025, having joined Raptor Factory Racing as the sole woman after leaving DAS-Hutchinson at the end of 2024.
There are plenty more riders to watch too. Georgia Lancaster (Loughborough Lightning) was 2nd at Solihull CC Women’s Road Race in 2024 and 1st in the same race in 2023, while Megan Anderson (Team Boompods) was the victor at the Yorkshire, NW & NE Regional Road Championships. Both riders are fast finishers so could thrive if they are in a group at the end of the race.
Corinne Side (Spectra Racing p/b DAS) was in contention for the National Circuit Series last season until cruelly crashing out. Winner of the 2023 Curlew Cup, Side is a good finisher and will be a contender if her early season form is good.
Hannah Clough (University of Nottingham Cycling Club) has only done four National B road races in her short career but already has three top tens to her name, so will be looking to build on that impressive start.
Of the juniors, Ella Tandy (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) is one to watch, the 2024 East Midlands & West Midlands Road Race Regional Championships winner proving last season she can best senior-level competitors on her day.
This Sunday’s North Lincolnshire Women’s Classic is poised to launch the domestic women’s road racing season with a bang.
Here is our preview and startlist.
Featured image: Ian Wrightson/The British Continental
What is it?
The inaugural North Lincolnshire Women’s Classic promises to be a crucial early-season test for the domestic women’s peloton. Launched by Generation Pro Cycling Events – the same team behind races like the Beverley Grand Prix and the Barnsley Town Centre Races – it offers riders a chance to shake off the winter cobwebs and hone their race craft before the spring calendar hits full throttle.
Set on the rolling Hainton circuit at the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, the route’s narrow lanes, punchy gradients, and potential for blustery March winds will demand both sharp positioning and a keen tactical edge. The Classic offers a high-intensity arena for those eager to size up the competition. For fans, it’s an early glimpse of who’s on song ahead of bigger fixtures like the Anexo CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic, the East Cleveland Classic, and the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix.
With a healthy prize fund and a genuine commitment to boosting the profile of women’s racing, the North Lincolnshire Women’s Classic aims to become a mainstay of the UK road scene – a stepping stone for riders and teams aiming to fine-tune their form ahead of bigger season targets.
Route
This year’s North Lincolnshire Women’s Classic unfolds on the rolling Hainton Circuit, a 105-kilometre affair that’s anything but a gentle introduction to the season. After a 6.2-kilometre neutralised rollout from Market Rasen, the racing will kick off in earnest, immediately greeting the peloton with the circuit’s undulating terrain. Six laps of this 16.6-kilometre loop will notch up more than 1,300 metres of climbing, thanks to a constant succession of drags and a punchy kicker about three kilometres from the finish line. While that climb isn’t especially steep – gradient hovers at around 8% – it’s likely to sting after a few laps and could prove a prime launchpad for decisive attacks.
Riders will also have to negotiate some tight, technical sections, so keeping a cool head – and a good position – will be critical. The finish itself is an uphill drag that stretches the legs for a few hundred metres. It’s neither punishingly steep nor pan-flat, but it could be just enough to separate those with serious early-season form from the rest of the pack. All told, the Hainton Circuit looks set to serve up a challenging early-season test for the women’s peloton.
Timings
The race begins at 10.00 and is due to finish at approximately 13.00.
How to follow
We hope to cover the race using our live ticker, which you will be able to follow on the day of the race here.
Contenders
The field might be compact but it’s strong, with plenty of representation from the UK’s five UCI Continental teams. Smurfit Westrock CT are the Conti team with the most representation, fielding a squad of six riders, so might be one of the teams that the peloton looks to to control affairs. Bexy Dew – 5th in 2024 Curlew Cup, serial top ten finisher in National B road races. Sian Botteley
We are looking forward to how new Handsling Alba Development Road Team recruit Mari Porton performs in her first race as an under-23. The 18-year-old was impressive last season, winning the Solihull CC Women’s Road Race, second in the Duncan Murray Wines Road Race and third at the Witham Hall Grand Prix in her final year as a junior, and, judging by those results, should suit this course.
Holly Ramsey (Hess Cycling Team), 2nd last week at the Royal Navy Cup and 12th at last season’s Lancaster Grand Prix is another UCI Continental rider to watch.
Local team Brother UK – Team On Form fields no less than ten riders. While the development outfit might focus more on using the race to earn riders vital experience, the team could use its numerical strength to its advantage. And they have riders, such Amelia Staunton (2nd at Witham Hall Grand Prix, 3rd Welsh Road Race Championships in 2024) who are more than capable of a trip to podium.
Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne – two-time national B road race winner last year, is doing things her own way in 2025, having joined Raptor Factory Racing as the sole woman after leaving DAS-Hutchinson at the end of 2024.
There are plenty more riders to watch too. Georgia Lancaster (Loughborough Lightning) was 2nd at Solihull CC Women’s Road Race in 2024 and 1st in the same race in 2023, while Megan Anderson (Team Boompods) was the victor at the Yorkshire, NW & NE Regional Road Championships. Both riders are fast finishers so could thrive if they are in a group at the end of the race.
Corinne Side (Spectra Racing p/b DAS) was in contention for the National Circuit Series last season until cruelly crashing out. Winner of the 2023 Curlew Cup, Side is a good finisher and will be a contender if her early season form is good.
Hannah Clough (University of Nottingham Cycling Club) has only done four National B road races in her short career but already has three top tens to her name, so will be looking to build on that impressive start.
Of the juniors, Ella Tandy (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) is one to watch, the 2024 East Midlands & West Midlands Road Race Regional Championships winner proving last season she can best senior-level competitors on her day.
Provisional startlist
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