REPORT/RESULT: British Time Trial Championships

Zoe Backstedt, Ethan Hayter, Callum Thornley and Millie Couzens crowned British Time Trial champions in Wales on Thursday

REPORT/RESULT: British Time Trial Championships
(BC Press Release) — The Lloyds National Road Championships got underway in Aberaeron, Wales on Thursday 26 June, with four time trial champions crowned, including Welsh success in the elite women’s race for Zoe Backstedt, a third elite men’s national time trial crown for Ethan Hayter, and U23 success for Millie Couzens and Callum Thornley.

Elite Women
Welsh rider Zoe Backstedt (CANYON // SRAM Racing Team) secured a popular victory on home soil as she was crowned the elite women’s national time-trial champion for the first time on a sunny afternoon in Ceredigion, with Anna Henderson (Lidl – Trek) and Pfeiffer Georgi (Team Picnic PostNL) earning their places on the podium.

Backstedt made a statement early on as she secured the fastest first lap, and continued the momentum by securing one of the fastest laps the second time around, before crossing the line in a time of 38:48.84, winning by a margin of 19 seconds.

Last year’s winner in the elite women’s time-trial and Olympic silver medallist, Anna Henderson (Lidl – Trek), finished second overall with a final time of 39:08.17. She admitted post-race that a tentative start may have impacted her chances of retaining the national champion’s jersey, but she was happy it had gone to “a really good home” in the form of Backstedt.

Close behind was Pfeiffer Georgi (Team Picnic PostNL) who finished in third place overall, clocking in a 40:15.84 final time.

Speaking on her win, Zoe Backstedt said: “I’m super happy. I think it was a little bit unexpected, I was up against Anna Henderson who’s the reigning national champion, so I think I would’ve just been happy with a podium finish. This event, it’s not quite home, but it’s still home – it’s still Wales. It’s super nice to be here. There were a lot of people cheering me on. Some marshalls on the course at the start shouted my name, and I’m like, I’ve not even started, and they’re already cheering me on, I really love that feeling.”

Elite Men
It was a hat-trick of national time trial titles for Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) as he added to the gold medals he won back in 2021 and 2022 with success at the 2025 edition. He showed his quality on the testing course in South Wales, taking it by just under 30 seconds from Samuel Watson (INEOS Grenadiers) and Oliver Knight (Cofidis) in the final race of the programme on day one of the Championships.

He was the fastest across the board on every sector and every split in a superb demonstration of TT riding, clocking 54:08.98. Watson built strongly into the race, utilising his strengths to bag the silver medal with a time of 54:37.31, with Knight riding strongly to cross the line in 54:55.13.

A delighted Ethan Hayter said afterwards: “It was definitely not comfortable at all. I went quite aggressive in the first lap. Maybe a bit too much. The second half of the race I managed to recover a bit and squeeze to the finish. It’s really nice to win this and start the week off but it’s just there’s so many good young riders, it can be a bit of a lottery sometimes, the National Championships. I’ll give it my best, but I’m quite happy to celebrate this win.”

Under-23 Women
Millie Couzens (Fenix – Deceuninck) dominated the field, finishing first with a gap of 50 seconds ahead of Robyn Clay (DAS – Hutchinson) in second and Madelaine Leech (Handsling Alba Development Road Team) in third.

Setting off in the afternoon sun, Couzens dominated the event as she recorded the fastest lap both times around the course to sail home to victory in a time of 40:54.32. Clay – who was victorious at the Tour of the Reservoir as part of the British Cycling National Road Series last week – fought hard against the tough course ahead, finishing on 41:45.17, to reach the podium at a National Championships for the first time in her young career.

Despite battling illness post Tour of Britain, Madelaine Leech battled her way to the bronze medal in a time of 42:02.91.

Speaking on her win, Couzens commented: “I’m really happy, I wasn’t really expecting it so I’m really proud of myself. The course was actually really hard because it was so steep, it felt like it was never ending but I actually really enjoyed it. This year, I’m really happy with how it’s been already, my focus now is just supporting the team on some of the bigger goals for the rest of the year.”

Under-23 Men
Callum Thornley (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe Rookies) took the under-23 men’s crown in a commanding display in the first race of the day.

Achieving the third fastest first lap and second fastest second lap, it was Thornley’s consistency which saw him take victory in a time of 35:26.98, ahead of Ben Wiggins (Hagens Berman Jayco CT) in second and Elliot Rowe (Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development) in third.

Wiggins, who finished 21 seconds behind Thornley on 35:48.93, matched his performance from 2024, finishing in the silver medal position for the second year in a row. He was the fastest rider at the halfway point on the technical course in Aberaeron.

Completing the medal places, Elliot Rowe crossed the line in third place in 35:55.96, with a 14 second gap separating him from Sebastian Grindley (Lidl – Trek Future Racing) in fourth place.

Speaking on his win, Thornley said: “I’m buzzing. I’m really happy. I came second three years ago in what was my first year, so it’s nice to be on that podium again. The competition this year has been really strong, so I’m very proud of the win. This course was really hard, I left it all out there but I enjoyed the route and all the fans on the sidelines.”

Friday 27 June sees the Lloyds National Road Championships host the circuit event with some of the strongest names in the British road scene battling in a high intensity route through the town of Aberystwyth. Riders will start and finish on the iconic seafront before taking to the town centre streets in an exciting 1.6km lap.

50 minutes and five laps of racing will decide both the elite women and open championships, and it will also provide numerous opportunities for spectators to cheer on the riders as they pass by. Fans and spectators don’t have to worry about missing work, as the circuit race gets underway in the evening with the women’s race starting at 18:15, while the Men will begin at 20:00.

Fans can watch the circuit race from flag to flag on the British Cycling YouTube channel, with the Women’s race live from 18:05 and the Open race live from 19:55. You can also watch on Discovery+ and TNT, plus a full highlights programme will be broadcast on Discovery+ TNT2 on Monday 30th at 7pm.

ELITE MEN
1. Ethan Hayter, Soudal Quick-Step 54:08.98 –
2. Samuel Watson, Ineos Grenadiers +28.33
3. Oliver Knight, Cofidis +46.15
4. Ethan Vernon, Israel – Premier Tech +1:00.26
5. Max Walker, EF Education – EasyPost +1:00.27
6. Connor Swift, Ineos Grenadiers +1:02.11
7. Matthew Brennan, Team Visma – Lease a Bike +2:48.27
8. Joshua Giddings, Lotto +3:13.33
9. Matthew Rossiter, George Fox Cycling Solutions +3:42.62
10. Harrison Wood, Sabgal/Anicolor +3:54.50
11. Toby Tanfield, Leadout Performance +5:51.67
12. Timothy Torrie, Defined Cycling Team +6:26.83
13. Ben Pease, Moonglu SpatzWear +6:44.57
14. Thomas Lee, Team Bottrill +6:54.37
15. Dom Jackson, Foran CT +7:18.16
16. Ben Goodwin, Stolen Goat Race Team +8:54.47
17. Jimmy Smith, Army Cycling Union +19:06.16

ELITE WOMEN
1. Zoe Backstedt, CANYON // SRAM Racing Team 38:48.84 –
2. Anna Henderson, Lidl – Trek +19.33
3. Pfeiffer Georgi, Team Picnic PostNL +1:27.00
4. Anna Morris, Unattached +1:28.58
5. Josie Nelson, Team Picnic PostNL +2:45.02
6. Claire Steels, Movistar Team +3:10.21
7. Lauren Dickson, Handsling Alba Development Road Team +3:29.77
8. Kate Richardson, Handsling Alba Development Road Team +3:36.28
9. Jessica Roberts, Spectra Racing +4:00.75
10. Alice McWilliam, Hess Cycling Team +4:12.32
11. Frankie Hall, Praties Cycling Team +4:29.14
12. Tamsin Miller, DAS-Hutchinson +4:57.97
13. Arianne Holland, Handsling Alba Development Road Team +5:00.45
14. Lucy Lee, DAS-Hutchinson +5:00.73
15. April Tacey, Team Coop – Repsol +5:03.78
16. Elinor Barker, MBE Uno-X Mobility +5:39.36
17. Olivia French, Unattached +5:41.38
18. Lucy Gadd, Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team +5:49.00
19. Dannielle Watkinson, Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon +5:51.13
20. Laura Davies, FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing +6:18.61
21. Lucy Harris, Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team +6:19.38
22. Joanne Rea, Team Boompods +7:01.83
23. Miriam Jessett, Loughborough Lightning +7:29.14
24. Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne, Raptor Factory Racing +9:16.57
25. Lucy Morley, Velotik Racing Team +13:05.17
26. Rebecca Newark, Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon +13:36.14

UNDER 23 TIME TRIAL – MEN
1. Callum Thornley, Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe Rookies 35:26.98 –
2. Ben Wiggins, Hagens Berman Jayco CT +21.95
3. Elliot Rowe, Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development +28.98
4. Sebastian Grindley, Lidl – Trek Future Racing +43.55
5. Tomos Pattinson, Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development +50.22
6. Mattie Dodd, Tirol KTM Cycling Team +1:03.05
7. Joshua Golliker, EF Education – Aevolo +1:07.53
8. Josh Charlton, +1:23.30
9. Jack Brough, AVC Aix en Provence +1:28.92
10. Jacob Bush, Development Team Picnic PostNL +1:29.24
11. Jamie Whitcher, BmthCycleworks VitecFire FordCE +1:59.21
12. Adam Howell, MUC-OFF-SRCT-STORCK +2:01.59
13. Tyler Hannay, +2:04.53
14. Cormac Nisbet, +2:09.41
15. Alistair Gardner, CC Etupes +2:25.01
16. Lucas Jowett, The Lead Out Cycling Academy +2:26.16
17. Alex Pickering, Ride Revolution Coaching +2:28.89
18. Sam Chaplin, Cycling Sheffield +2:30.43
19. Lewis Tinsley, BCC Race Team +2:32.01
20. Bradley Perkins, AC Bisontine +2:42.67
21. Ahron Dick, Equipo Finisher +2:44.86
22. Tom Williams, Monzon – Incolor – Gub +2:51.07
23. Joseph Cosgrove, Team Lotto Kern-Haus PSD Bank +3:23.08
24. Finlay Tarling, Israel – Premier Tech Academy +3:31.06
25. William Salter, BCC Race Team +3:35.22
26. Charlie Lewis, Follows Huesca La Magia – Renault Auto Cuatro +3:51.26
27. Max Bufton, Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli +4:14.61
28. Sion Jones, Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy +4:26.59
29. Reuben Corlett, Birkenhead North End CC +5:04.08
30. Maxwell Hereward, 360cycling +5:16.11
31. Zachary Metheringham, Team PB Performance +6:07.31
32. Toby Bush, BCC Race Team +7:02.69
33. Hamish Hunter, Primera-TeamJobs +7:27.30
34. Archie Findlay, Vanelli-Project Go +10:33.34

UNDER 23 TIME TRIAL – WOMEN
1. Millie Couzens, Fenix-Deceuninck 40:54.32 –
2. Robyn Clay, DAS-Hutchinson +50.85
3. Madelaine Leech, Handsling Alba Development Road Team +1:08.59
4. Imogen Wolff, Team Visma – Lease a Bike +1:16.72
5. Cat Ferguson, Movistar Team +1:19.52
6. Isabel Sharp, Lidl – Trek +1:19.96
7. Noemie Thomson, Brother UK – On Form +1:47.70
8. Mari Porton, Handsling Alba Development Road Team +4:13.97
9. Holly Ramsey, Hess Cycling Team +4:27.97
10. Eilidh Shaw, UAE Development Team +5:14.42
11. Carys Lloyd, Movistar Team +5:32.70
12. Niamh Murphy, Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team +5:49.79
13. Isabel Mayes, CJ O’Shea Racing Team +5:57.25
14. Lowri Richards, Wales Racing Academy +8:10.56

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