19/01/2026
It’s Monday morning, you’ve been at work for 90minutes. Grab yourself a coffee.
Here are my main takeaways from this CX season and what I think we should be trying to achieve going forward. Happy to be told I am wrong, but wanting a good debate as to why.
Scottish riders are currently performing incredibly highly in British cyclo-cross. Not only do we have the two Elite British Champions and a bronze, but 6 individual Scottish riders under 18 years had podium finishes during the National Trophy series. This includes 5 race wins across the U14/16 female categories, as well as two age group overall series second places with Eilidh & Xander.
There will be no British National Trophy rounds in Scotland next season. Ourselves at Irvine and Falkirk Juniors both decided it was not financially prudent to tender to host a round this season.
With the Bradford round in late Jan 2027 being the most northerly, this will mean upwards of 4000 miles of driving for any riders from Central Scotland racing all National Series rounds and British Champs.
We need to remove as many obstacles as possible for our young talented racers to continue to race CX and achieve against the best in the UK. With the likelihood of CX being a winter Olympic sport in 2030 it is our U23-U16 riders who will be jostling to become our first Olympians.
In the last week the Scottish Cycling socials have been celebrating both of the reigning British Cyclocross Champions hailing from Scotland, however their own system actively discourages riders from finding their potential at that discipline.
At the recent Scottish Track Championships one of the SC/BC coaches proudly stated they actively discourage / forbid Performance Pathway riders from racing cyclocross, insisting they focus on road and track. Take a look at the official SC webpages on the Pathways, it clearly shows CX & Downhill are less valued than the current Olympic disciplines. Yes I get it, it’s the UK Sport Funding System's fault by focusing on Olympic Gold. But to me that still simply doesn’t seem right.
In my mind this means we as a CX community need to be assisting these young riders to race at National Trophy level and higher. But not just race, to achieve podiums, stripey jerseys and potentially a place on a Winter Olympic start line.
Additionally we also to ensure races of that level continue to happen in Scotland and inspire others to that try reach level.
The next 2 British Champs will be in Clanfield on the South coast of England in 2027 then another English host in 2028. BC have raised with us the possibility of Irvine hosting the champs in 2029 or 2030, but stated there would need to be a National Trophy round in Irvine in 2027/28 season.
At Irvine we are confident of hosting a champs, just as we are confident of hosting a SCX round, or another CROSSmanay style event. But we are financially reluctant to host another Trophy round.
Despite universal acclaim as the best round of the 2025/26 season in terms of course and atmosphere, as a stand alone event the two National Trophy days at Irvine made a loss of circa £2.5k… which would have been £5.5k if UCI status and obligatory prize fund had been preserved. This loss would also have been much greater without the incredibly generous logistical support of McTaggarts, Falkirk Junior Bike Club giving us access to all their course building materials, and of course the hard work of dozens of volunteers.
Overall CROSSmanay as a 4 day event made a small surplus, enough for a few bunches of thank you flowers and a nice meal. Without the Hogmanay party, car parking, coffee and beer sales the whole thing would have been a financial loss.
The harsh reality is that with dwindling entries the only person making money at a cyclocross race is the barista.
BC have made some welcome proactive changes to the National Trophy format for next season. Key to these is the dropping of UCI status for all rounds except the first. This immediately elimates £4k of overheads.
BC are also trialling a Double Header Trophy weekend next season at the final round(s) in Bradford. All race categories happen on both days, so two days of racing and points for each rider.
Our understanding is that if successful the plan is to roll this out to all rounds in 2027/28. One race weekend a month Oct, Nov, Dec, late Jan plus champs in mid Jan. 4 weekends, 4 venues, 8 rounds. Series points best 6 rounds of 8.
This format change means that a National Series round at Irvine cannot be held in conjunction with a CROSSmanay style festival over New Year, making it financially even less viable.
I recently had conversations with those who organised the 2023 British Champs in Westmorland and last weeks champs in Sth Shields.
Each said that before committing to hosting a champs they ensured they got full financial support from their two respective leagues (NWCCA & CXNE).
In the case of Westmorland, the NW League added a £1 levy to all league race entries for the preceding 2 years. This was used as a slush fund to ensure all essential financial obligations for hosting the champs were met, UCI Prize Fund, medical, course building, etc etc. So that before they sold a single race entry, or sponsorship deal they had financial security for the event.
Having been at most National Trophy rounds the last two seasons I can categorically state that SCX rounds are far better organised, with better courses, facilities and atmosphere than almost all non Scottish Lloyds Cyclo-cross National Trophy rounds. Collectively we have some of the best course designers, builders, and people who simply make racing happen. . . but we need more, and they need support.
This is the point of my ramblings above…
Since neither British Cycling nor Scottish Cycling financially assist CX organisers with their respective series or championships, if we want to continue National Trophy level or British Championship level racing in Scotland we as a community will need to spread the risk beyond individual clubs / event organisers in a similar way to other regions.
Also if we want to be celebrating Scottish cyclocross success in 5 or 10 years time we need to ensure our talented young riders are given extra support to race across the British series.
So…
I’d like to see a small additional levy added to next year’s SCX entries to start a fund with two key aims:
1/... to help assist the most talented young riders travel to National Trophy & British Championship races.
2/... to help race organisers continue to bring Trophy / Championship level racing to Scotland.
The massive irony of all of the above is that British Cycling’s National Trophy series Title Sponsor is a major high street bank.
Each individual event organiser takes on the financial risk for putting on the a series race. They get zero financial support from said bank or from British Cycling for running their series races.
For Irvine we applied to two different British Cycling funds for grants, including the sustainability fund from British Cycling’s fossil fuel sponsor. We were given zero funding by either.
