THE Lloyds National Road Championships concluded with two action-packed road races on Sunday 28 June in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, as Zoe Backstedt and Fred Wright took home the elite national road race titles.

Zoe Backstedt (CAYNON // SRAM Zondacrypto) treated home fans in Ceredigion to a courageous chase to win the 2026 Lloyds National Road Race Championship, from Josie Knight (DAS-Hutchinson) in second and 2025 national road race champion Millie Couzens (Fenix-Premier Tech) in third.

Knight remained as the one-to-catch throughout the majority of the race, fearlessly staging an early break away from the peloton and extending her lead to eight minutes at the halfway point.

The chase group of Isabel Mayes (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes), Matilda McKibben (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes), Mari Porton (Handsling Alba Development Road Team), and Jo Tindley (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team) attempted to chase Knight down, but none could keep up with Knight’s blistering pace.

As the riders entered the short circuit (12.4km), Backstedt broke away from the peloton, quickly catching the chasing group and eventually overtaking them. At this point Backstedt was six minutes behind Knight. She valiantly dug deep to claw back the gap, reaching the leader on the penultimate lap. Much to the entertainment of the Welsh Crowd, Backstedt overtook Knight with a lap to spare and powered to the finish line to claim both the elite and U23 women’s crown.

This marks Backstedt’s second elite women’s title of this year’s Lloyds National Road Championships, after her victory in the time trial on Thursday in a sweltering Lampeter.

Knight battled hard to fend off the approaching chasing group, as her early breakaway paid off, taking the silver medal, her first podium at a national road championships. She stated after she was “just chuffed to hang on for second” as a rider who “who doesn’t do a lot of road racing.”

Couzens outsprinted the chasing group of eight riders, coming down to thousandths of a second between herself, Pfeiffer Georgi (Team Picnic PostNL) in fourth and Anna Morris (Tirol Womens Cycling) in fifth.

The final spots on the U23 podium were also decided by the finest of margins. Recently crowned U23 time trial national champion Erin Boothman (Liv AlUla Jayco) was just beaten to second by Imogen Wolff (Team Visma Lease a Bike), both finishing seventh and sixth respectively in the overall elite women’s race.

Backstedt spoke after the race: “The first part was super interesting, there was a break of ones and twos, who got maybe six or seven minutes ahead of us.

“On the last lap of the big lap, it was quite hard over that steep climb, and I was hanging on for dear life at the end of that.

“It wasn’t the most ideal feeling, so I knew it was going to be a hard day. Then on the long climb as we entered the small circuit, I felt really good, and Flora (Perkins) attacked and I followed it and went over the top of her, and then it was a 55km solo day to the finish to try and catch Josie (Knight).

“It’s been a super good week. To win the Time Trial on Thursday and be on the podium with my sister that was a real highlight. To have her on the side of the road today and in the feed zone for me has been great. To have my whole family here has made it a great week where I could be super relaxed and have fun.”

2023 national road race champion Fred Wright (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) stood atop the podium once more after winning a thrilling 2026 Lloyds Men’s National Road Race Championship. Lewis Askey (NSN Cycling Team) grabbed silver by the narrowest of margins behind, whilst national time trial championship silver medallist Connor Swift (NetCompany Ineos) took home yet another medal, this time bronze, to add to his collection.

Much like the women’s race, the Welsh crowd were treated to an enthralling break away early on in the men’s contest. This time it was not just one person charging for glory like Knight, but a group of nine riders including Owain Doull (Visma Lease a Bike) and newly-crowned U23 men’s national time trial champion Ben Wiggins (Hagens Berman Jayco).

Around 60km in, the peloton caught the lead group. From that point on, until the riders reached the short circuit, no group successfully staged a breakaway. The lead was frequently exchanged between a large group of riders such as national circuit championship bronze medallist Thomas Portsmouth (Guidon Chalettois).

With 70km to go a group of Swift, Wright, Askey, Mattie Dodd (Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy), and Elliot Rowe (Team Visma Lease a Bike Development) detached from the other challengers to make a long ride for home.

With only a few laps remaining, nothing separated the leading five, promising an exhilarating finish ahead for the crowd. Until the final lap, the more experienced trio of Swift, Askey, and Wright propelled ahead of the two U23 riders. All three headed down the promenade neck and neck, yet the experienced Wright prevailed at the finish line powering ahead of Askey by millimetres.

Speaking after the podium Wright said: “It was a typical National Championships, I attacked from the start, and it was full gas racing until a select group formed. We take chunks out of each other for as long as we can, and I was happy to make that group. I just slowly whittled it down and played my cards well in the end.

“[On claiming back the striped jersey] I was trying not to think about it. The year I had in the stripes was really special. As soon as you are not in the stripes, you really miss it. I was trying not to think about it too much in the last 10km. I had to just think normally and race without going too crazy. It’s such a special thing. I plan to take these to the Tour.

“I really do love racing in Britain. I hope I can start the Tour of Britain this year. I’m not sure what my schedule might be. It’s lovely racing on British roads and I’ve had a great time.”

Rowe and Dodd were left to battle it out for the U23 title, with Rowe managing to find the energy to push past Dodd at the line to take it.

The newly crowned champion Rowe stated: “It was a tough day out in Wales today, but it is really nice to come away with the jersey.

“From the gun it was hard, and I was pretty much jumping as much as possible at the beginning.

“Especially with Mattie Dodd getting ahead to try and help in the final, so I was looking for those groups going up the road and putting myself in the right position to get in with a really strong group coming into the finishing circuit.

]”I was just trying to hang on for as long as possible. It was a case of playing the game as both Mattie and me were going for the jersey, so we gambled.”

Runner-up Dodd added: “Connor Swift gave some good advice to us at the start, which was ‘active not reactive.’ I felt bad [physically] at the start but following his advice I told myself, ‘always try to be ahead of the race and then let the race come to you.’

“It’s not often we get to compare ourselves to [the elite category], you know a few of them are off to the Tour [de France] next week. It’s pretty cool to think I could hold my own with them.”

The Elite men’s race brought a close to a successful few days in Ceredigion for the 2026 Lloyds National Road Championships. Full results can be found here.