Photo: swpix.com
Lloyds National Road Series R2 Open / R3 Women: 2025 Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix (11 May)
The Lloyds National Road Series headed to Lincoln on Saturday 11 May in one of the biggest single day races in the UK, with Lauren Dickson (Handsling Alba Development RT) and James McKay (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) taking the top honours.
With the women’s race covering eight laps and 103km, it was attacking moves on Michaelgate which shook up the race on every ascent.
Sophie Wright (Ribble Outliers) was active at the front trying to break clear after a few laps, and eventually went clear with Lauren Dickson, Anna Morris, Grace Lister, and Robyn Clay at the bottom of the climb with two laps to go. They only had five seconds at the top, but the gap was just enough to slowly extend over the top of the climb and along the plateau.The gap climbed to 20 seconds by the bottom of the descent.
Wright’s efforts took their toll, and she was dropped just before the final climb, leaving Dickson to attack at the bottom section, holding off Anna Morris on the line to seal her first National Series win of the year. Grace Lister rounded out the podium.
After three events, Robyn Clay moves into the overall Series lead.
The 167km open race saw the biggest group of riders go clear on lap four, when eight riders led by Dom Jackson (Foran CT) forced an advantage of almost 20 seconds along the flatter roads after the descent and through the feed zone. However, Wheelbase and the team of the Series leader, MUC-OFF-SRCT-STORCK, pulled this back.
Towards the halfway point, Cameron McLaren (TAAP Kalas) attacked over the top of Michaelgate, keeping the power on and putting the rest of the bunch under pressure. A six-rider group finally coalesced at the front, with Wheelbase and MUC-OFF represented, alongside Ben Granger.
A lap later, more riders made the bridge, forming a dangerous move. With four laps remaining, Series Leader Adam Howell, saw the danger and jumped across with more riders.
There was plenty of action for the next few laps as riders attacked and countered - Howell, Granger, Charlie Tanfield, Matt Bostock (TEKKERZ CC), Thomas Armstrong (Wheelbase) were all present and active.
With one lap to go, a clear break had finally found its way clear with James McKay, George Kimber, Matt Bostock, Ben Granger and Alex Peters (DAS Richardsons) all featuring.
McKay jumped first, and Peters was the only rider who could match his acceleration, but the latter could not find the power and the space to come around on the technical and winding finish leaving McKay to win by a wheel’s width on the line. Alexandre Mayer (Foran CT) put in a late acceleration from the chase group to haul his way to third.
Adam Howell held onto the overall Series Lead.
Elite Women results
Lloyds National Downhill Series Round 2: Fort William (11 May)
Luke Williamson improved upon his third-place finish at round one to take victory in Fort William at the second stop of the series. After two races, his split came in at 4:26.451, just under three seconds ahead of Roger Novack Vieria, with Jack Reading taking third spot overall.
The elite women’s winner was Mikayla Parton who was a dominant performer, over 11 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, Emily Carrick-Anderson who earned her second podium of the series so far to move to the top of the overall standings. Emma Wood claimed third place.
Results
Lloyds National MTB Cross Country Series Round 3: Glentress (11-12 May)
Isla Short showed her class to take the elite women’s race win on home soil in the battle of the Scottish riders as Grace Inglis was over two minutes behind. Portugal’s Ana Santos finished third on the day.
There was a sublime performance from Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) who took the elite open race win. The Briton enjoyed U23 world success at the venue in 2023. He navigated the familiar surrounding well to finish ahead of Cameron Orr who was twenty seconds further back, with Max Greensill in third.
Evie Strachan and Innes McDonald continued their excellent form in the junior categories, taking further series wins.
