To start the New Year off properly, Cyclocross went to South Shields for the National Championships on the 10th-11th January. And it did not disappoint. With lots of mud, slippy off-cambers, banks on a velodrome and more, the National Champs proved that 2026 will be yet another year of great Cyclocross racing.
In the U14 girls, Elizabeth Whall (Colchester Rovers CC) took the Championship win, followed by Florence Cooper of Palmer Park Velo and Tilly Jennings of Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy. Eve Carline raced well for Sotonia, finishing eighth, as did Matilda Wilks, who came twenty-third. In the U14 Open Championship, Tom Craker (Shibden CC) came first, Ben Clarke followed, from Ilson Velospeed Race Team, for second and Ewan Allaway, from Pedalon, for third!
In the U16 Championships, Aisling Charlesworth (Fibrax Fenwick’s Wrexham CC) took the girl’s Championship win. Olivia Smallshaw of Secret-training CC came second and Olivia Poole (Specialised Youth Development) finished third. Theo Wan of Beeston CC took the U16 Open Championship title, followed by Wilfred Pugh of One Life Racing for second place then James Hardisty from Clancy Briggs for third. Reuben Harrington finished twenty-third, another good result for Sotonia CC.
Club highlight of the Championships goes to Andy Gardiner who had the race of his life battling for the v40 Open podium, eventually finishing third overall and 2nd placed v45 after a super tight contest.
In the Junior Women’s, Peggy Knox (Vicious Velo) took the win. Freya Mowbray, Scottia Offroad Race Team, came second and Heidi Roscoe, Exact Power, came third. In the Elite Women’s, Anna Flynn from Spectra Racing became National Champion. Xan Crees came second (OGT p/b USE) and Grace Inglis (Team HUP) came third.
In the Junior Open, Jacob Steed (Sherwood Pines Cycles Forme) took the win. Luke Trafford, of Shibden CC, followed for second and Samuel Stacey, of Verulam Megan’s RT, took third. Tom Allen came twenty-second. In the Elite Open, Cameron Mason (Alpecin-Deceuninik) took the National Championship for the fourth time in a row! Toby Barnes (Spectra Racing) came second and Ben Askey (CC Etupes) came third. Sam Ridgment fought well for Sotonia, coming off a couple times and finishing forty-seventh.
Overall, the National Championships of 2026 proved to be another fun-packed racing weekend. Well done to everyone racing, and an extra well done to our Sotonia riders who fought hard and well on a difficult (and muddy) track. See you all in Crow for the final race of the Wessex League!
To view the Elite races, you can find them on YouTube, alongside the top three interviews for both the Open and Women’s races. You can also find the full results for the National Championships on the British Cycling Website.