{"id":632269,"date":"2026-06-11T02:14:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T02:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/632269\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T02:14:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T02:14:19","slug":"2026-city-of-london-nocturne-preview-and-startlists-the-british-continental","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/632269\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 City of London Nocturne: preview and startlists \u2013 The British Continental"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday 13 June, the City of London Nocturne returns after eight years away, bringing floodlit UCI criterium racing back to the heart of the capital. Rebuilt around a 1.3-kilometre circuit through Cheapside and Bank, with St Paul\u2019s Cathedral at one end and the Bank of England at the other, the revived Nocturne is more than a city-centre spectacle: the elite women\u2019s and men\u2019s races also count towards the Rapha Super-League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here is our preview. <\/p>\n

Featured image: Olly Hassell\/SWpix.com<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What is it?<\/p>\n

For eight years, the most-watched night in British criterium racing did not exist. The Nocturne \u2013 Smithfield, then City of London, a fixture of food stalls, live music and floodlit racing between 2007 and 2018 \u2013 went dark, and the domestic calendar lost one of its few pieces of genuine urban theatre.<\/p>\n

On Saturday it returns under its original organiser, James Pope, after the City of London Corporation approached him about bringing a marquee cycling event back to the Square Mile. Supported by the City of London, its Destination City Fund and the Cheapside Business Alliance, the revived Nocturne shifts the race from its old Smithfield setting to a new circuit around Bank junction.<\/p>\n

It is built as a two-day festival. Friday 12 June stages the GOSH City Criterium, a charity Pro-Am on a closed circuit around Guildhall in which 20 corporate teams each ride alongside a professional in a team-relay format, raising money for the new Children\u2019s Cancer Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital. The pro cohort mixes current riders with names from the recent past, among them triple Olympic champion Ed Clancy and Giro d\u2019Italia stage winner Alex Dowsett.<\/p>\n

Saturday 13 June widens out from midday, with community and amateur racing alongside feature events: the Brompton folding-bike race, the Voi bike-hire challenge, the Limitless para-cycling race supported by Shell UK, and a Guinness World Record attempt involving the world\u2019s largest Penny Farthing. The elite women\u2019s and men\u2019s criteriums, registered on the UCI calendar in the Pro Criterium class, close the night.<\/p>\n

Route<\/p>\n

The elite races run on a 1.3-kilometre closed-road circuit weaving through Cheapside and Bank, with St Paul\u2019s Cathedral at one end and the Bank of England and Royal Exchange at the other. Both fields race for 45 minutes plus three laps \u2013 short and fast. A short city-centre circuit means repeated accelerations, constant positioning battles and little room to recover. The riders best suited to it are likely to be those with the nerve and handling to stay near the front, lap after lap, before either forcing a move or contesting a high-speed sprint under the lights.<\/p>\n

Riders to watch<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s race<\/p>\n

The obvious starting point is\u00a0Kate Richardson\u00a0(Handsling Alba Development Road Team), the reigning British National Circuit Race Champion, who arrives in excellent form after winning the Tour of the Reservoir on Sunday, her first victory of 2026. That win came not from a sprint but from strength and timing: Handsling Alba placed three riders in the decisive seven-rider break, before\u00a0Richardson\u00a0attacked with around 12 kilometres to go and soloed clear to Consett. A European team pursuit champion on the track as well as a former Lincoln Grand Prix winner, she has the engine, the speed and the confidence for a short, fast city-centre race.<\/p>\n

\"\" Kate Richardson. Image: Olly Hassell\/SWpix.com<\/p>\n

But the more interesting point may be that\u00a0Richardson\u00a0is not Handsling Alba\u2019s only card. Izzy Sharp\u00a0was second to\u00a0Richardson\u00a0in last year\u2019s British National Circuit Race Championships, finishing ahead of\u00a0Jessica Roberts\u00a0in the three-rider move that decided the title in Aberystwyth. That gives Handsling Alba two riders from the 2025 national circuit podium, both now in the same colours. Add\u00a0Maddie Cooper, who was one of the most consistent riders of the 2025 National Circuit Series, finishing second at Guildford, third at Ilkley and fifth at Sheffield, and their strength starts to look considerable. With\u00a0Anna Flynn,\u00a0Beth Morrow,\u00a0Arabella Blackburn,\u00a0Amelia Tyler\u00a0and\u00a0Mari Porton\u00a0also listed, they have the depth to race aggressively rather than simply wait for a final sprint.<\/p>\n

The two purest crit specialists in the field are both former national champions.\u00a0Jo Tindley\u00a0(Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team) won the British National Circuit Race Championships in 2021 and has long been one of the sharpest town-centre racers in the women\u2019s peloton. On a 45-minute circuit through Bank and Cheapside, with little time to recover and constant pressure to hold position,\u00a0Tindley\u00a0is exactly the kind of rider who can turn experience into a result.<\/p>\n

\"\"Meg Barker. Image: Milan Josy\/The British Continental<\/p>\n

Meg Barker\u00a0(Rapha Cycling Club), the 2023 British National Circuit Race Champion, brings a different but equally dangerous profile. A track world champion and part of one of British cycling\u2019s most successful track families,\u00a0Barker\u00a0has the leg speed and repeated punch to suit a short, fast crit under lights. Rapha Cycling Club do not have the numbers of Handsling Alba or DAS\u2013Hutchinson, with only\u00a0Barker\u00a0and\u00a0Amy Perryman\u00a0on the startlist, but that does not make\u00a0Barker\u00a0any less dangerous if the race comes down to a reduced sprint or a late acceleration from a small group.<\/p>\n

DAS\u2013Hutchinson arrive with numbers, quality and a clear Super-League incentive.\u00a0Morven Yeoman, winner of the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix and current National Road Series leader, is one point behind absent series leader, her teammate\u00a0No\u00e9mie Thomson,\u00a0in the women\u2019s Rapha Super-League standings, so the Nocturne carries obvious significance beyond the result on the night. A flat, technical crit is not the same kind of test as Lincoln or the Tour of the Reservoir, but\u00a0Yeoman\u00a0has been one of the defining riders of the domestic season and cannot be treated simply as a road-race specialist.<\/p>\n

\"\"Morven Yeoman. Image: Milan Josy\/The British Continental<\/p>\n

The DAS squad around her gives them several ways to race.\u00a0Sophie Lewis\u00a0brings proven National Circuit Series pedigree, having won the inaugural Cambridge Criterium in 2025 and two rounds of the National Circuit Series the season before that. A fast finisher, she is a real card to play if the race stays together.\u00a0Josie Knight\u00a0adds world-class track strength, while\u00a0Tiffany Keep,\u00a0Lucy Lee,\u00a0Ellie Parry,\u00a0Libby Smithson\u00a0and\u00a0Aliyah Rafferty\u00a0give the team one of the strongest collective line-ups in the race. If Handsling Alba look the team most likely to animate the race, DAS\u2013Hutchinson look among the best equipped to control it \u2013 or to punish hesitation if the race becomes tactical.<\/p>\n

International interest comes from the AG Insurance\u2013Soudal Devo Team, the development squad rather than the senior Women\u2019s WorldTour team, but still a serious presence.\u00a0Marith Vanhove\u00a0is the obvious fast finisher, a Belgian sprinter who was second at Trofee Maarten Wynants this season and has the profile to survive a technical race before contesting the finish. Leonie Bentveld, the reigning under-23 cyclocross world champion, brings a very different kind of threat: not a conventional criterium specialist, but a rider whose handling, explosiveness and comfort under pressure should translate well to a tight city-centre circuit.\u00a0Nina Lavenu, a French rider with a classics-oriented profile, completes a trio that gives the race a useful international edge.<\/p>\n

\"\"Zoe Roche. Image: Olly Hassell\/SWpix.com<\/p>\n

Among the younger riders,\u00a0Zoe Roche\u00a0(camsmajaco) is the standout name. Still a junior, she won last year\u2019s VIA Criterium at King\u2019s Cross with a last-bend surge in a finish that required exactly the kind of nerve and timing a London night crit demands. On paper, she is an outsider in a field containing national champions, WorldTour graduates and track internationals, but her most relevant result came in precisely this kind of environment: a short, technical London criterium where position into the final corner mattered as much as raw speed.<\/p>\n

That gives the women\u2019s race several overlapping storylines.\u00a0Richardson,\u00a0Sharp,\u00a0Barker\u00a0and\u00a0Tindley\u00a0bring national circuit championship pedigree.\u00a0Handsling Alba\u00a0and\u00a0DAS\u2013Hutchinson\u00a0bring the deepest squads.\u00a0Vanhove\u00a0and\u00a0Bentveld give the race international texture. And\u00a0Roche\u00a0offers the wildcard element: a young rider with a proven eye for a London crit finish. On a circuit this short, the favourite may not simply be the fastest rider, but the one who can stay close enough to the front, often enough, to use that speed when it matters.<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s race<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s race is heavy with circuit-racing pedigree, and the obvious starting point is\u00a0Matt Bostock\u00a0(Rapha Cycling Club). Few riders in the field have a more complete domestic crit record: British National Circuit Race Champion in 2022, winner of five National Circuit Series races in 2019 alone, a multiple Tour Series winner, and last year\u2019s Rapha Super-League champion. He is not just quick at the end of a race; he is one of the few riders in the British peloton who has repeatedly shaped entire circuit-racing seasons around his finishing speed, positioning and ability to survive hard, technical racing.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ollie Wood. Image: Milan Josy\/The British Continental<\/p>\n

Alongside him,\u00a0Ollie Wood\u00a0gives Rapha Cycling Club a second genuine favourite rather than simply a lead-out option. The 2023 British National Circuit Race Champion, a former track world champion and Olympic team pursuit medallist,\u00a0Wood\u00a0has already shown that his track speed translates cleanly to fast urban racing. He won last year\u2019s VIA Criterium at King\u2019s Cross, then added this year\u2019s Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix with a late attack on Michaelgate. That combination \u2013 crit speed, track craft and current road form \u2013 makes him one of the most rounded contenders in the race. With\u00a0Jacob Vaughan,\u00a0James Jenkins\u00a0and\u00a0Joshua Jones\u00a0also listed, Rapha Cycling Club have both the two most obvious individual cards and enough support to make the race difficult for others.<\/p>\n

The reigning national circuit champion is here too.\u00a0Cameron Mason\u00a0(Alpecin\u2013Premier Tech) won last year\u2019s British title in Aberystwyth, adding a circuit-race jersey to his four British cyclocross titles. He is not a conventional domestic crit specialist in the way\u00a0Bostock\u00a0is, but that may make him more dangerous rather than less. A 45-minute city-centre race through Bank and Cheapside should reward handling, repeated accelerations and the ability to produce explosive efforts out of corners \u2014 all qualities that sit naturally within\u00a0Mason\u2019s cyclocross profile.<\/p>\n

\"\" Cameron Mason. Image: Alex Whitehead\/SWpix.com<\/p>\n

Tekkerz CC remain a major crit force, even after\u00a0Bostock\u00a0and\u00a0Wood\u00a0moved to Rapha Cycling Club.\u00a0Alec Briggs\u00a0is still one of the most accomplished criterium riders in the domestic field, a former VIA Criterium winner who was third there last year as Tekkerz swept the podium.\u00a0Alfie Amey, sixth at last year\u2019s VIA Criterium, adds another fast, aggressive option, while\u00a0Paddy Chapman,\u00a0Nimai Inniss\u00a0and\u00a0Benjamin Tuchner\u00a0give the team useful numbers. They may no longer have the two headline names they had in 2025, but they remain exactly the kind of squad that knows how to race a technical crit from the front.<\/p>\n

Tom Armstrong\u00a0(Wheelbase CabTech Castelli), the 2025 National Circuit Series overall winner and current Rapha Super-League leader, brings a different threat. His circuit-series title was built on consistency rather than a single dominant win, but that is precisely why he matters here. On a short, fast course where a poor lap of positioning can end a rider\u2019s night,\u00a0Armstrong\u00a0has shown he can keep placing himself in the right part of these races. His teammate\u00a0Tim Shoreman\u00a0gives Wheelbase another serious card: winner of the 2025 Otley Grand Prix, winner of the 2023 Colne Grand Prix, and bronze medallist at the 2023 National Circuit Race Championships. Between them, Wheelbase have both series consistency and proven race-winning speed.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tom Armstrong (centre). Image: Milan Josy\/The British Continental<\/p>\n

DAS Richardsons also have a rider who should not be overlooked.\u00a0Frank Longstaff\u00a0was fourth at last year\u2019s VIA Criterium, sixth at Otley, and has already shown he can win fast, technical races, having beaten seasoned pros to take the inaugural Cambridge Criterium in 2024. In a field full of bigger names,\u00a0Longstaff\u00a0is one of the more obvious danger riders if the race becomes a reduced sprint or a late move of specialists.<\/p>\n

Among the form riders,\u00a0Danylo Riwnyj\u00a0(Foran CT) arrives with the freshest result in the field, having won the Tour of the Reservoir on Sunday with a 14-kilometre solo attack. A windswept National Road Series road race is a very different test from a 45-minute criterium under lights, but confidence matters, and\u00a0Riwnyj\u00a0has shown he can commit fully when a race opens. <\/p>\n

\"\"Jim Brown riding the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix in 2025. Image: Mathew Wells\/SWpix.com<\/p>\n

The international names add another layer.\u00a0Mathias Guillemette\u00a0(Tudor Pro Cycling) is the reigning Canadian elite criterium champion and an accomplished track endurance rider, a profile that should translate well to a fast, tactical city-centre race.\u00a0Ryan Gibbons\u00a0(Fly Cool Collective), a former WorldTour rider and ex-South African road race champion, brings the purest top-level road pedigree in the field, although his recent crit form is harder to read.\u00a0Jim Brown\u00a0(L39ION of Los Angeles), by contrast, has exactly the kind of current American criterium experience that matters here, racing for one of the most recognisable crit teams in the world and already winning US criteriums this season.<\/p>\n

Add\u00a0William Truelove\u00a0(JAKROO Handsling Racing), last year\u2019s Rapha Super-League runner-up,\u00a0Sam Walsham\u00a0(Colina x Ciovita),\u00a0Tom Williams\u00a0(CC Villeneuve Saint-Germain),\u00a0Cai Davies\u00a0and\u00a0Oliver Curd\u00a0(DAS Richardsons), and the depth behind the favourites is considerable. But the shape of the race still looks clear:\u00a0Bostock\u00a0and\u00a0Wood\u00a0bring the strongest combination of crit pedigree and current form;\u00a0Mason\u00a0brings the national champion\u2019s jersey and cyclocross explosiveness;\u00a0Armstrong\u00a0and\u00a0Shoreman\u00a0bring Wheelbase\u2019s consistency and finishing power;\u00a0Briggs,\u00a0Longstaff,\u00a0Guillemette\u00a0and\u00a0Brown\u00a0are the danger men if the race becomes more chaotic.<\/p>\n

Timings<\/p>\n

The elite women\u2019s criterium is at 20:00 and the elite men\u2019s at 21:00.<\/p>\n

How to follow<\/p>\n

The elite races will be broadcast live on TNT Sports and HBO Max from 20:00, with other races streamed on YouTube. The event is free to attend, with the Cheapside Business Alliance Fan Zone at the Royal Exchange showing the racing live on a big screen, and a limited number of finish-line hospitality tickets available. The full schedule is at racenocturne.com<\/a>. The British Continental will also be bringing coverage through interviews and live updates on Instagram. Weather<\/p>\n

Super-League so far<\/p>\n

The Nocturne is the fourth counting round of the Rapha Super-League<\/a> and the first since the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix. The women\u2019s title race is the one to watch. No\u00e9mie Thomson leads on 63 points, but she is absent from the startlist \u2013 and Morven Yeoman, one point back on 62 after winning at Lincoln, can move into the overall lead with a strong ride. In the open standings, Tom Armstrong leads on 59 and is racing, with the crit specialists Oliver Wood (fifth) and Matt Bostock (eighth) well placed to climb on a circuit that suits them.<\/p>\n

Provisional startlists<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s race<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s race<\/p>\n

\tDiscover more from The British Continental<\/p>\n

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