UPDATE: Season-Long Competitions 2026

By Jon Fairclough

We are well over half-way through the season, so here is a summary of who is on top of the leaderboards. 
First a recap of how the season-long competitions work. Riders are ranked on age adjusted average speed over the required qualifying events, which two 10s and two 25s for the Short Distance competition, 25, 50 and 100 miles for the Three Distance competition, and 25, 50, 100 miles and 12 hours for the Best All Rounder (BAR) competition.
If a rider has completed less than the required number of qualifying events, the average speed is proportionately less. For example if you have ridden two 10s at an age adjusted average speed 30 mph, but no 25s your age adjusted average speed for the short distance competition is (30+30+0+0)/4 = 15mph. This ensures that during the season the riders who have done more events are pushed to the top.
The usual suspects are at the top of the leaderboards. Linda Dewhurst (London and Home Counties) leads the female short distance competition with Jen Clegg (East Midlands) in second and Deb Hutson Lumb (Merseyside) in third.
Chris Lord (Surrey/Sussex), Richard Oakes (East Midlands) and Liam Maybank (London and Home Counties) lead the open class table.
Linda (67) also leads overall with an age adjusted average speed of 34.64 mph. I don’t expect that to be beaten. Second overall is Chris (73) on 34.283 mph. Compare that with Adam Duggleby (41) of Yorkshire group who rides almost on scratch and has done a scorching 100-mile record this season. His age adjusted average speed is 31.49 mph and scratch average speed is 31.35 mph. Liam (54) is fastest on actual speed and only slightly faster than Adam on 31.93 mph.
Naomi de Pennington (Midlands) leads the female three distance competition, followed by Kim Barfoot-Brace (West) and Liz Ball (Scotland). Liam Maybank (London and Home Counties) leads the open three distance competition, followed by last year’s winner Michael Stevens (East Midlands) and Adam Duggleby (Yorkshire).
The age adjusted average speeds of Liam and Michael are very close, and the order could change by the end of the season. Adam’s actual average speed of 31.73 mph is the fastest ever recorded for the three distance competition, largely due to his 100-mile record of 3:10:48 this season.
The first 12 hour race this season is taking place as I write this, so no-one has qualified for the BAR competition yet.
In the group competitions East Midlands lead the short distance, followed by London and Home Counties and FTP (Fulfil The Potential) Race Team. East Midlands also lead the three distance competition ahead of West and Wessex.
In the club competitions Team Bottrill leads the short distance, followed by Legato Racing Team and FTP (Fulfil The Potential) Race Team. FTP leads the three distance competition ahead of Graham Weigh Racing-Deeside Olympic and Team Bottrill.
The Club Competition uses the VTTA club name that a member sets in their profile. Please ensure that your club’s name is spelt exactly the same as you first claim CTT club!
Looking back over the last few years the short distance podium age adjusted average speeds have been in excess of 34 mph, while the fastest average actual speed has been 31-32 mph. It is natural to ask how can the fastest rider on age adjusted average speed be 10% faster than the best rider on absolute speed? Surely these speeds should be closer? One way to understand this is that age adjustments are based on the average performances of the top 10% of elite riders at that age. It seems that older riders, with the right training and preparation, as well as natural ability, can turn in performances that are typical of riders many years younger. In short, older riders have more headroom to outperform. Notwithstanding this, over the last few years we have seen older riders setting new standards. During the off season I will get the last two years of results and calculate new age adjustments. 
Good luck to all riders for the rest of the season.

FAQs
-    Q: I have linked my CTT and VTTA so why am I not appearing in the Season Long Competitions? 
-    A: Have you entered them by ticking the boxes in the competitions tab in your profile? This is a once only action – entries roll over from season to season. This year we modified the system so that members are invited to tick the boxes after linking their accounts, so hopefully there will be fewer people who have not entered unintentionally.
-    Q: Why is my result not appearing even though I have entered the competition and I can see the result on the CTT site?
-    A: Was the result after you entered? Only results after you enter the competition are used. If yes, then contact itmanager@vtta.org.uk 

Keep checking the league tables at https://www.vtta.org.uk/competition-results?competition_type=3&year=2026 for the latest standings.

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