Lauren Bell and Matthew Richardson claimed their third sprinting titles of the weekend as Katie Archibald wowed the sold out crowd on the final day of the Lloyds National Track Championships 2025 in Manchester.
Men's keirin
Matthew Richardson claimed his third national title of the weekend on his British national championship debut, firing to the men’s keirin title after a dominant performance.
Richardson eased through his races, winning each one by a margin, before facing a tough final against Black Line’s Pete Mitchell, and Team Inspired teammates Hamish Turnbull, Oliver Pettifer, Marcus Hiley and Harry Radford.
Hiley led out the final from the front, pushing on the pedals before Richardson attacked on the back straight with lap and a half to go. Richardson powered away from the chasing field, and was untouchable, leaving time to celebrate as he crossed the line.
Mitchell chased hard behind and settled for second, while Turnbull took the bronze.
On his third title, Richardson said: “I set this as one of my goals. I knew I was capable of it, but doing it and saying it are two completely different things, so I’m just really relieved and happy that I can go out there and achieve my goals.
“I knew that even if my legs were a bit tired I could still deliver on the day. I learned in the semi-final not to get boxed in for the final so I lit it up with two laps to go and held on until the end.”
Women's sprint
Lauren Bell claimed her third win of the weekend and defended her sprint title after a close final showdown.
Bell qualified fastest, clocking 10.684 seconds, and sailing through her opening round heats and quarter-final. Shel was joined in the semi-finals by Team Inspired teammates Rhian Edmunds, Georgette Rand and Rhianna Parris-Smith.
The Scottish rider eased past Rand in two to face the semi-final against Rhian Edmunds, who beat Parris-Smith in a 2-0 match up.
For the bronze medal, Rand and Parris-Smith fought it out with both showing skill in their tactics, with Rand ultimately taking the silverware in two straight races.
In the race for gold, Bell and Edmunds left it late, sprinting in the final lap, with Bell taking the win. It was a cagey second race with the two riders watching each other cautiously. Edmunds pushed high on the track, before diving under Bell with one lap to go, and took the win by a bike length to make it a best of three.
The final race was another closely contested feat, with Edmunds and Bell battling closely to the line. Edmunds pushed Bell out wide, resulting in a relegation, which left Bell to take her third title of the championships.
Speaking after, Bell said: “Nationals are always such a great event, there’s always sold out crowds. It’s nice to have my family in the crowd to cheer me on, it’s great.
“I knew I had good legs coming in. I’ve got the speed and I’ve started to develop the tactics now. I tried to take each race as it came, and this is the result!”
Women's points race
Katie Archibald dominated the women’s points race, scaling 47 points in the 80 lap race to take the national title.
Archibald was joined on the podium by Dannielle Watkinson, who made a last gasp attempt with two laps to go, crossing the line solo in first place to take her from zero to 10 points - enough to gain the silver medal. Cat Ferguson took the bronze after sweeping up points throughout the race.
An active start saw Neah Evans, Eilidh Shaw and Ferguson in the mix, with Sophie Lewis also attempting an early attack that didn’t stick.
Anna Morris looked to make it a third title of the weekend, getting away with Evans before being reeled back and making a second attempt, but Archibald was quick to close the gaps. A late crash saw Morris’s plans for another title foiled, but she managed to get back on to finish the race.
Archibald continued to show her sprinting prowess to pick up maximum points at the front, winning five of the eight sprint laps available. With 20 laps to go, the Scottish rider made a decisive move, powering off the front to gain a lap as the home crowd roared her home.
An active last 15 laps saw moves from Lucy Glover, Jenny Holl and Meg Barker, but it was Watkinson’s effort with two laps to go that catapulted her onto the podium, crossing the line in first place to get the silver medal.
Archibald said at the podium: “I’m very happy about a plan well executed. The fact I’ve been away for so long has made me very motivated for the nationals.
“I’m the person that people want to beat, but it’s still nice to be surrounded by that mentality and take a buoy from being a part of that.”
Men's scratch race
Noah Hobbs (EF Education - Aevolo) secured the men’s scratch race national title with a stunning solo attack to lap the field after what had been a cagey and tactical opening to the contest.
Hobbs made his key attack with just 20 laps to go, taking advantage of some confusion in the peloton to create a gap and powered away before the chase behind could coordinate, successfully completing his attack to effectively seal the win with 15 laps to go.
Defending champion Sam Fisher (Wales Racing Academy) and William Gilbank (One Life Cycle) made an attack of their own with five laps remaining, finishing in that order to seal out the podium places.
On his victory, Hobbs said: “I wanted to go for this one. The points race didn’t really go my way, I made a couple of mistakes and my brother [Henry Hobbs] beat me, so I had to come back and one up him. I wanted to sprint like I normally do, but when the moment comes to attack you’ve got to take it.”
Para-cycling mixed team sprints
In the para-cycling mixed C team sprint, the race for gold saw the 3 Amigos team of Samuel Davies, Rebecca Newark and Jacob Smith produce a stunning performance to reverse the qualifying order and seal the win with a time of 52.989 seconds. Team 2 Million Percent; Archie Atkinson, Morgan Newberry and Matthew Robertson, came in second with a time of 56.081 to earn silver.
In the bronze medal final, The Ice Bergs came out victorious over Pushing Limits, despite being over a second and a half behind after the first lap. A herculean effort by Callum Deboys and William Bjergfelt saw them earn a well deserved third place.
At the podium, Newark said: “It feels amazing to be honest, it was great to do it with the boys that I’ve trained with for over a year now, it’s really nice to get over the line with them. It’s a team event and everyone has to pull through together.”
In the test event of the mixed B team sprint final, Sophie Unwin and her pilot Jenny Holl’s ferocious start was matched by a strong finish from James Ball and Steffan Lloyd to lead Jean-Claude Tan Damme to the gold medal in style in 50.547 seconds. They defeated Neil and Lora Fachie and their pilots Matthew Rotherham and Charlotte Deykin for team Double Trouble by three seconds.
Two-wheel Thunder secured bronze in the third place match-up with a time of 58.222 as they came back to defeat Sync’d & Speeding with a comprehensive lead of over a second.
An outstanding 11,063 tickets were sold across the weekend, with Saturday and Sunday evening sessions sold out, as the curtain came down on another brilliant Lloyds National Track Championships 2025. Thank you to all the riders, volunteers, commissaires and fans for your support.
sprint, men’s scratch race, para-cycling mixed team sprints, women’s points race, and men’s keirin.
Results and coverage
You can find all the results from the weekend's racing here. Follow British Cycling's Instagram, Facebook and X accounts for key storylines from track centre.
A selection of photos from each day will be published on our Flickr account.
