REPORT: 2026 VTTA National Road Bike Championship

Linda Dewhurst was fastest overall on age-adjusted time at the inaugural VTTA National Road Bike Championships in Wiltshire, while there was drama in the open category with an unprecedented tie for top spot between Gary Hobbs and Matthew Uttley.
Dewhurst (Cheltenham and County CC, pictured) clocked 1-23-25 for an AAT of 1-06-40, while Hobbs (Stroud Valley Velos) and Uttley (Team Bottrill-Nopinz) both ended up with 1-08-14 and share the honours.
This was the first time the VTTA had run a road bike-specific National Championship. Road bikes have always been able to take part in all our events, in competition with time trial bikes.
Responding to the demand and an increasing interest in road bikes, the VTTA voted at the 2025 AGM to replace the National 30-Mile Championship with a National Road Bike Championship.
This inaugural event was to be used to assess interest to see if it was sufficiently popular – and it certainly was! There were 78 event entries in all, and of these 48 were VTTA members on road bikes.
In the open category, behind Hobbs and Uttley was Eddie Humphreys (Nottingham Clarion CC) in third in 1-09-32, while in the women’s category second was Chris Murray (HUUB WattShop) with 1-13-51 and Victoria Webb (Born to Bike) was third in 1-14-13.
The Group competition was won by the East Midlands trio of Matthew Uttley, Eddie Humphreys and Mick Stevens with a combined AAT of 3:28:34, and Legato Racing Team opened their 2026 account in the club competition after taking the club prize over five distances last year. Their combined time of 3:33:42 was recorded by Simon Horsley, Ed Moss, and Simon Dighton.
The U871 course on the edge of the Cotswolds was specially selected for this road bike focussed event, being rolling in nature and with a sometimes ‘challenging’ road surface, as is becoming all too common.
The spring weather played ball, and a slightly crisp start became quite pleasant when the sun put in a welcome appearance.
The championship was run within the Swindon Road Club’s 30-mile time trial, and VTTA members were made to feel particularly welcome with a great HQ and excellent organisation.
Event photos by Finish Line Photography