Track Cycling National Championships 2026 – UK 🇬🇧 [SESSION 2]

February 20, 2026

Track Cycling – National Championships 2026 – United Kingdom 🇬🇧 – DAY 1 Session 2 – National Cycling Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

The 2026 Lloyds National Track Championships are currently taking place at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, running from Thursday, February 19, to Sunday, February 22. This year marked a significant expansion with the addition of a Thursday session, making it a four-day event where Britain’s top cyclists compete for the iconic red, white, and blue national champion jerseys

A blistering day of track racing saw Matthew Richardson storm to his second national sprint title with trademark control, while Josie Knight delivered a dramatic late charge to edge world champion Anna Morris in a showdown worthy of their titles.

Matt Bostock lit up the men’s scratch with a bold early attack to seal a statement win. Kadeena Cox was back to her best, sealing a dominant win in the Women’s C4-5 Time-Trial, meanwhile Fin Graham and Archie Atkinson both reigned victorious in what is a new, high-stakes Paralympic Games event, the C1-C3 and C4-C5 elimination race.

Men’s Sprint
Matthew Richardson (Team Inspired) won his second national jersey in GB colours after a dominant performance – cruising through knockout rounds without losing a single match, to make the gold medal final.

His opponent was teammate Harry Ledingham-Horn who beat Archie Gill (Private Member) in both semifinal rounds, responding to his early attacks but catching him to beat him on the line.

On his win, Richardson said; “It’s good to win another national jersey. It was a conservative day. I respected my opponents but obviously raced smart as I didn’t want to waste too much energy and line it up if I needed to in the final.

“It wasn’t the hardest day I’ve ever had on a bike but it’s all part of learning. It’s still very special but nothing will quite top the first time, as last year was obviously really special.”

Women’s Individual Pursuit

Josie Knight (DAS Hutchinson) set the pace in the women’s individual pursuit with the fastest qualifying time, edging just 0.141 seconds ahead of world and national champion Anna Morris (Private Member) to set up a highly anticipated final. Erin Boothman (Liv AlUla Jayco) and Jessica Roberts (Spectra Racing) secured places in the bronze medal match, with Boothman later claiming the win. In the gold medal showdown, Morris opened strongly and built an early lead, but Knight mounted a fierce late charge, overturning the gap in the final laps to snatch victory on the line and deny Morris a successful title defence.

Speaking about a strong final, Knight said: “Honestly I think it’s an absolute privilege to race Anna [Morris]. She pushes you on to be better, you’re up against a world champion and that comes with some pedigree. You want to beat the best and that’s her, I’m happy that I’ve done that today.”

Women’s Tandem B Sprint

Jenny Holl and Sophie Unwin picked up their second national champion jerseys of the weekend, in two straight sets over Georgina Bullen and Miriam Jesset.

Two very close and tactical heats, almost identical in nature, saw Holl and Unwin find their groove with half a lap to go, where they were able to get the best of Bullen and Jesset.

In a fiery bronze medal match that went to a deciding set, it was the duo of Slevi Krishna and Eva Hauge who were able to get the better of Ella Briant and Georgina Oakley.

Speaking after their win, Jenny Holl said

“Nationals is a great opportunity to try things out, normally we only get the chance to race this once a year so it’s great to try it out and get a result.”

Sophie Unwin added: “I was fairly confident going into this but you never want to be complacent because anything can happen in a bike race. That first round, once we passed them we knew we had them and the second round, last lap I knew we had it.”

Men’s Scratch
Matt Bostock (TEKKERZ CC) secured the men’s scratch race national title after a strong attack off the front alongside William Roberts (Private Member), with three quarters of the race still to go. The duo launched their surge with 29 laps remaining but worked solidly together to chase the pack down and take a lap with about 21 laps to go.

Another solo acceleration by Team Visma Lease a Bike Development rider, Elliot Rowe saw an injection of pace into the pack but his effort couldn’t be sustained – pulling off with about 4 laps remaining.
On his victory Bostock said; “It’s really good to get a first win with the new team, it takes the pressure off a little bit. One race, one win, it’s not a bad start to the year, I’m happy with that.”

On getting back onto GB programme, Bostock added, “Firstly, I was immensely proud to get back on, it’s not an easy programme to get back onto and with the success they have it just means everyone is at the world’s best level. Getting on was massive for me and now it’s about aiming for the Olympics and see what happens on the way, but shoot for the stars!”

Men’s Tandem B Individual Pursuit

Chris Latham picked up a consecutive national champion title, this time piloting Morgan Fice-Noyes (both Private Members) against stiff competition in the form of Chris McDonald (PDQ Cycle Coaching Property Elite) and John Archibald (HUUB WattShop)

Mcdonald and Archibald came into the final as the fastest qualifiers, adding jeopardy to the favourites going in. However, a confident and assured ride for the new pairing proved to be pivotal, allowing them to cross the line in style.

In the Bronze medal ride, Christopher Wilkins (TAAP Kalas) and Adam Duggleby (Addform VLV-Gardenshed UK) took the remaining podium position, catching Josh Matten (Graham Weigh Racing) Snowden Brierley (Macclesfield Wheelers) after 1500m in what was a blistering start to wow the crowd.

Speaking after their win, Chris Latham said; “It was good, it was pretty tough but we stuck to our gameplan and executed it pretty well. It feels good to be National Champions and we’ve got some proper competition now.

Speaking of his former pilot, Double Paralympic champion Steve Bate, who retired last year, Latham said; “Steve came this evening, so it was good to have him here watching. I think he was a bit gutted he wasn’t riding but he’s gone home now!”

Women’s C1-3 Time-Trial

Elisabeth Simpson took her second win of the weekend in the women’s C1-3 1km time-trial, putting down a dominant time over the four laps of 1:25.549. Simpson’s performance put her over 3.634 seconds ahead of silver medallist Amelia Cass.

“I have recently come back from injury, so I just had to try and think about what was controllable and try and put it all together. So, in terms of processes, I guess you’ve got to follow the process and not think about the outcome. I just thought about the start, then the next pedal stroke, and the next pedal stroke, and not think about the thing that comes before. I just kept pedalling my hardest and tried to get to the end! I was pretty chuffed [with the outcome].”

Women’s C4-5 Time-Trial

Kadeena Cox added to her medal haul with a dominant win, showcasing new pacing tactics as she adapted to the longer kilo distance.

Last to race, having seen strong times set prior, Kadeena was flawless in her execution, growing from strength to strength as the race went on. A confident race from Crystal Lane-Wright (BCP – Private Member) saw her finish second, while Rebecca Newark (JAD – Jadan Glasdon pb Vive le Velo) finished in third.

Commenting on her race, Cox said: “I feel like I’m trying to play around with new tactics. I’m used to riding the 500 (m time-trial) and just going all guns blazing, so I tried to taper back the first lap a little bit so I had a bit more on the second and third lap.

On the difference between the 500m and new kilo distance: “It does feel like a massive difference with the new event, I am a ‘sprinter’ sprinter – one lap is probably my best, so it’s a challenge, but also I feel like it’s a challenge like it’s the type of challenge I’ve needed for the past few years.”

Women’s Team Sprint Finals

Team Inspired A’s made up of Rhianna Parris-Smith, Lowri Thomas and Emma Finucane delivered a stunning performance in round one time of 47.077 led the way in the rankings, a second and a half ahead of their nearest opponents.

The trio stormed to the gold medal, fighting off fierce competition from teammates Rhian Edmunds, Iona Moir and Georgette Rand.

Parris-Smith was straight out the gates with her signature powerhouse start leading the team to bring it home less than a second faster (0.976) than the B team competition, in a finish of 47.223.

The Bronze medal match was a battle between Glasgow Track Racing Club and the ODS (Olympic Development Squad) Sprint team. It was the Scottish trio of Madeline Silcock, Ellie Stone and Sylvia Misztal who triumphed, in a time of 49.655.

Emma Finnucane said: “I think we performed really well as a team, it was a solid effort from us all, especially with it being one of the first times the four of us are doing this together.

Lowri Thomas added: “There’s only so much you need to do with the fastest riders in front of you. It’ll take a while for us to get it perfectly right for all of us, but we will, and that’s okay. I think we’re all happy with where we are right now.”

Men’s C1-3 Elimination

Fin Graham claimed the men’s C1–C3 para elimination title with a tactically sharp and composed ride, navigating the unpredictable rhythm of bunch racing with cat-like awareness. In an event still developing within the para‑cycling programme, Graham positioned himself flawlessly throughout, reading the surges and staying clear of danger.

Fin Graham, “It’s a fairly new event for para and a new games event for us so there is still a lot of learning in terms of how to ride this race properly but to go away wearing the jersey is a step in the right direction. My position in that race is so important and it’s so easy to get caught out, you have to be super aware of where everyone is at all times.For a race like that you can do as much prep as possible but plans often plans get thrown out the window and you’ve got to think on your feet. That’s the joy of bunch racing on the track! It’s such an iconic jersey and to win it is always super special.”

Men’s C4-5 Elimination

The men’s C4–5 elimination race delivered the unpredictable, high‑pressure intensity the format is known for, with riders constantly fighting for position. In a discipline still evolving within para‑track racing, winner Archie Atkinson (Private Member) showed sharp awareness and cool adaptability, handling the chaos of bunch dynamics with confidence and reacting instinctively in the heat of competition.

On his win Atkinson said; “It feels really good and I controlled the race the way I wanted. We went in with a plan and executed it well. It’s an elimination race so they are always quite chaotic so staying at the front keeps it safe and you’re able to have it at your pace and take control. It’s one of my favourite races and I won the world title last year so to have a national title after losing my world title is a good feeling.”.

List of National Champions on Day two:

Elisabeth Simpson, Women’s C1-3 Time-trial

Kadeena Cox, Women’s C4-5 Time-trial

Jenny Holl, Sophie Unwin, Women’s B Sprint

Emma Finucane, Rhianna Parris-Smith, Lowri Thomas, Women’s Team Sprint

Chris Latham, Moran Fice-Noyes, Para-cycling Men’s B Individual pursuit

Matthew Bostock, Men’s Scratch Race

Matthew Richardson, Men’s Sprint

Josie Knight, Women’s Individual pursuit

Fin Graham, Para cycling Men’s C1-3 Elimination

Archie Atkinson, Para cycling C4-5 Elimination