Twelve months have passed since the recommendations of the Elite Road Racing Task Force were published – an independent group appointed to support British Cycling’s work to reinvigorate elite domestic road racing in the UK.
Following an update published in September 2024, after successful delivery of the Lloyds Tour of Britain races, today British Cycling reports on further progress and priorities, including new events for 2025, a series rebrand and additional support for new event organisers - alongside publication of the full recommendations and the immediate, medium and long-term priorities.
The full list of recommendations from the Task Force has been prioritised and streamlined where action points were duplicated, or simply not achievable due to UCI regulations or extenuating circumstances, such as increased costs. An internal action group aims to deliver transformative change and will continue to work with people across the wider cycling community to achieve this.
Immediate next steps include updating the National Road Organisers’ Guide and working with organisers across the National Road and Circuit Series to establish the long-term viability of races and to discuss succession plans for each of the events.
Latest progress
- Lloyds sponsorship: Current support from lead partner Lloyds has allowed British Cycling to continue our commitment to improve infrastructure, branding, result processes, and organiser payments in 2025. We are currently investing circa £180,000 into the domestic road and circuit series, as well as dedicating staff time and support directly on the recommendations. Based off the 2024 series, this promises an average of £14,000 for individual National Road Series events and £9,500 per individual National Circuit Series events. In addition, the registration fee paid by organisers for National Series events has been removed this year.
- New events for 2025: Two new events in the south west have been introduced in 2025 - one for the National Circuit Series and one for the National Road Series – in order to expand racing geographically, as recommended by the Task Force. British Cycling is currently in ongoing talks with event organisers to add additional rounds to the series, with the idea to bring back historical races of the series, as well as exploring the opportunity to add stage races to the series.
- National Circuit Series leader’s jersey: A new leader’s jersey for the National Circuit Series, supported by Alé, will be introduced in 2025 to create additional exposure for the leading rider/team during the race and via an additional podium visit.
- National Series and Championship rebrand: A National Series and National Championship rebrand for 2025 will refresh the look and feel of national level events across all disciplines, thanks to the support from our title sponsor Lloyds. This will include support for event organisers with a full suite of digital assets and branding to market their event effectively.
- New introductory event organiser online learning: Online learning has been created for new event organisers to sit across all disciplines, giving an overview of the role and expectations in delivering an event for the first time. This is currently in the review process, with a launch in 2025.
Next steps
Having prioritised the recommendations and realistically evaluated the short and long-term deliveries of each recommendation, thanks to consultations with teams, riders, event organisers and volunteers of the sport, the working group will next look to evaluate and deliver:
- Review of the entry criteria for National Series events
- Review of rider entry processes
- Review of race distances
- Review of the National Series calendar and positioning of events
- Additional leader’s jerseys
Long term action
Over the next one to three years, we aim to:
- Develop a ‘Winning Pattern’ playbook based on existing successful races
- Conduct a full review of points ranking system
- Explore opportunities to increase the number of UCI 1.2 and 2.2 races
British Cycling’s Chief Executive, Jon Dutton, said:
“I would first of all like to acknowledge the hard work and efforts by many in challenging circumstances.
“We appreciate that National Series races cannot happen without event organisers, volunteers, riders, funding and more. The environment in respect of the domestic road racing scene in the UK continues to get harder.
“In the last 12 months, significant progress has been made – not least rescuing and delivering the Lloyds Tour of Britain races featuring 66 British riders, and with new events on the horizon for 2025, plus a series rebrand and additional support for new event organisers, there are reasons to be optimistic.
“This period of review and consolidation has resulted in a prioritised action plan for us to work towards, bringing in key people from across the organisation and the cycling community to drive forward progress. It is really important that British Cycling shows leadership on the things that are within its control and supports other areas which we cannot directly influence.
“This progress relies on the whole ecosystem coming together to innovate and develop solutions that are future-facing and work for the sport in the modern world and we want to thank everyone who has positively engaged with us on this so far.”
Want to get involved in growing the sport we love? Find out about opportunities as a race volunteer here and how to contact our discipline commissions here.
