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The 2026 British National Downhill Championships headed back to Revolution Bike Park, marking the return of top flight racing to the now tree-less Llangynog hillside.
Words & Photos by Jez Prout & Dave Price.
On a hot summer weekend in July the quaint and peaceful village of Llangynog became a downhill-racing mecca as it opened its doors to over 300 riders and teams. From Friday morning the three camping areas were packed with vans and tents, the lanes busy with bikes and mechanics, the daunting hill with its distant track-tape fluttering in the wind dominating the picturesque valley, Revolution Bike Park really is a fitting home for the National Championships.
Borderline Events, in partnership with the Revs Crew, opted to run Main Line for the Championships and earlier in the summer set about reprofiling and reshaping a track worthy of the Championship title. It was clear from the track walk that a lot of work had gone into making the vision come to life with plenty of new features, pristine and ready for the race, however it was also clear that the extraordinarily dry summer had made it near impossible to pack the surface hard and therefore the track would likely evolve (erode?) rapidly throughout the weekend.
With a start-hut perched high on the hill, the track descends at first gradually but very quickly transitions to steep tech with deep shale-filled ruts, roots and sniper stumps making line choice critical in the first sector. The second part of the track is all about the flow, switchbacks to road gaps and super-fast sections cutting through shoulder-height bracken and the striking purple-flowering Rosebay Willowherb (Helyglys hardd in Welsh) that covered the mountainside.
Sector three sees the track drop into the welcoming shade of the last remaining wooded section, hiding steep steps and turns before dropping back into the barren and sun bleached jump section in the quarry and the final dusty, flat-out berm into the finish line.
Practice got under way early on Saturday morning as scheduled, the uplift ‘Landies’ leaving trails of dust hanging in the morning air as they ground their way up the fire roads. Queues of riders (a sadly common problem across the weekend) waited patiently for their runs, but with smooth running and relatively few hold-ups, most were able to take three or four uninterrupted sighters before the afternoon seeding got underway for the lower categories.
Seeding took place in baking heat, the sun beating down with clouds of dust blowing in the brisk breeze giving little respite to riders, marshals and spectators alike. Visibility was only improved for the riders now they had a thirty second gap between competitors, the result a small chance the wind would clear the clouds of dust from the line before they arrived.
Current World Cup leader Jordan Williams was clear favourite; on an amazing run of form the Specialized Gravity rider celebrated back to back wins in the last two UCI Downhill World Cups, notably at the bone dry and loose Pal Arinsal and, prior to that, on the steeps of La Thuile. A national Senior Champs field packed with elite and expert riders would present stiff competition at his domestic championship, Matt Walker, Joe Breeden, Danny Hart, Charlie Hatton, Taylor Vernon, George Madley and others would push Williams hard for the win.
Despite a measured first sector, Jordan lit-up the timing boards in the final two sectors, stitching together lines and carrying his speed throughout the remainder of the run to snatch victory from Matt Walker by over two seconds in a time of 2:24.918, easily the fastest of the weekend.
Harriet Harnden arrived at Revs with a solid year of results already in the bag; a first round win at the neighboring Rhyd Y Felin track in the British National Downhill Series, a second round win at the IXS European Downhill Cup at Fort William. The AON Racing rider has honed and developed her world-beating enduro skills to become a world-beating downhill racer, thriving in conditions that test the best, and this track would do just that.
Hattie would take the win on Sunday with a show of dominance and ruthless consistency, her seeding and winning 2:47.380s race run split by just eight hundredths of a second. Phoebe Gale of Orbea FMD Racing made a strong start to her run, faster than Harnden by 1.0s in the first sector, however by the line she had slipped to more than two seconds behind. Winner of the recent Glencoe round of the National Series, Emily Carrick-Anderson came home in third position with a time of 2:55.304s.
The remaining age categories were equally hard contested with packed fields, narrow time gaps and hard-fought victories across the board.
Ty Simpson, winner at the recent Glencoe round of the National Series, took victory in the male 13-14yr category by just 0.119s from George Wilkes while in the female category Esme Morris, competing in only her third race, would claim a well earned jersey with her time of 3:11.57s.
Specialised Youth Development rider Sienna Paul took victory in the female 15-16yr category with a storming run some 9.920s ahead of Olivia Taylor of Viris Nukeproof Racing. T.N.T rider Harrison Schofield showed exactly the commitment needed to beat a field of sixty eight riders in the 15-16yr male age group; fastest in only the third sector, Schofield took the win from Reid Simpson by just 0.509s with his time of 2:30.185s.
Despite a catastrophic 43rd in seeding on Saturday, Santa Cruz Syndicate rider Felix Griffiths would put it all together in his race run and then face an agonising wait in the hot seat before being confirmed winner of the male 17-18yr category. Elliot Smith had seeded fastest but despite improving in his race run was unable to match the 2:32.202s time of Griffiths. Megan Horne, racing for Steampunk Downhill Army, proved her form and dominance of the 17-18yr female category, fastest in all but one of her timed sectors to take victory ahead of Illy Morrison and Katie Allsop.
Jane Page became National Champion in the female 30yr+ category with a committed and consistent race run, her final two sectors faster than in seeding. Second placed but disappointed Vaska Prostova, fastest in seeding, would suffer a mechanical in the middle of her run and nurse the bike to the line a distant 26.624s behind Paige.
Hope Factory Racing rider Matt Rushton was fastest in every sector of the track, in both seeding and race and took the win in the male 30-34yr category by 4.577s. Scott Mears then bettered that, also fastest in every timed sector to take the win in the male 35-39yr by an eye-opening 10.746s. The time gaps were narrower in the 40-44yr race, Olly Morris dropping time in the final sector but holding on to beat Stephen Wade by just 0.664s. It was equally tight in the 45-49yr field with Jonny Starmer and Neil White duking it out for sector times across the weekend, Starmer eventually claiming victory by 1.449s.
Showing age is no barrier, racing faster than all other 30-49yr males before him, Steve Peat took a dominant win in the 50yr + category to regain his National Champion/Treasure status for another year.
As the dust settles on an amazing weekend of racing at Revolution Bike Park everyone’s attention will shift to Rnd 4 of the National Downhill Series at Llangollen, the next episode in this season of iconic venues and tracks is only three weeks away, bring it on!
Elite Men
1st – Jordan Williams 2:24.918
2nd – Matt Walker 2:27.535
3rd – Joe Breeden 2:27.882
Elite Women
1st – Harriet Harnden 2:47.380
2nd – Phoebe Gale 2:49.475
3rd – Emily Carrick-Anderson 2:55.304
Junior Men
1st – Felix Griffiths 2:32.202
2nd – Elliot Smith 2:33.122
3rd – Stan Nisbet 2:33.926
Junior Women
1st – Megan Horne 2:57.471
2nd – Illy Morrison 3:00.737
3rd – Katie Allsop 3:02.737
Your 2026 National Champions
Jordan Williams, Harriet Harnden, Felix Griffiths, Megan Horne, Harrison Schofield, Sienna Paul, Ty Simpson, Esme Morris, Jane Page, Matthew Rushton, Scott Mears, Olly Morris, Jonny Starmer, Steve Peat.
