British Cycling
ANTASTIC FOUR TO TAKE ON TIME-TRIALS AT THE 2026 UEC ROAD EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
—- Hot on the heels of a successful Road World Championships, British Cycling can today announce the squad of four riders who will be representing Great Britain at the 2026 UEC Road European Championships which takes place from Friday 2nd to Wednesday 7th October 2026 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
In a reflection of 2025’s strategy, the five riders to compete are all time-trial specialists and will aim to showcase the strength the nation holds in this discipline in their given categories. They are Ethan Hayter, Callum Thornley, Lauren Dickson and Ben Wiggins, with all four having come directly from the world championships.
Contesting the elite men’s jersey will be Ethan Hayter and Callum Thornley, who have both seen fantastic results in recent weeks. In last month’s Vuelta a España, Hayter finished second in the opening time-trial stage, while Thornley took fourth before racing to second place himself on stage 18. Thornley finished top-10 in the world championships time-trial and will be looking to round off the season with a podium result.
Having seen arguably her own breakout season internationally this year, Lauren Dickson will represent the elite women, having delivered a strong top-20 result on her world championships road race debut last week. The Scot, who was awarded Queen of the Mountains at this year’s Lloyds Tour of Britain Women will be testing her time-trial legs in her European Championships debut.
Having seen some of his best results of his career so far in recent months, including a top-10 overall finish at the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, Ben Wiggins will round out the team as he contests the men’s under-23 time-trial jersey, and will be looking for redemption from a “surprising” world championships, where he unfortunately failed to make the top-10.
Matt Brammeier, Men’s and Women’s Road Cycling Lead for the Great Britain Cycling Team said:
“As we continue to build towards the LA Olympic Games, we are excited to field a competitive team with huge potential at the UEC Road European Championships. A first European championships for three of the five riders it will be a great opportunity for us to test ourselves against Europe’s best time-trial riders. ”
Two of the four riders have at some point been part of the Great Britain Cycling Team Performance Pathway, funded through UK Sport by The National Lottery Funding.
They are fantastic examples of the expert support and development role the pathway has played over the past 20 plus years in identifying and nurturing British talent to achieve at the highest level.
The squad representing the Great Britain Cycling Team at the 2026 UEC Road European Championships:
Elite men
Ethan Hayter (TT only)
Callum Thornley (TT only)
Elite women
Lauren Dickson (TT only)
Under-23 men
Ben Wiggins (TT only)
– ENDS –
About British Cycling
British Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling in Great Britain. We govern and develop the sport from grassroots participation through to supporting the riders representing Great Britain on the international stage.
Our purpose is to bring the joy of cycling to everyone, and we’re fulfilling this by building on the elite success of the Great Britain Cycling Team and enabling more people to discover the joy of riding a bike.
We are proud to represent a community of members, 2,000 affiliated clubs, and the 27 million people who ride a bike nationwide – whether riding for fun, racing competitively, or simply getting from A to B. We exist to support and represent anyone who participates or wants to participate in our activities.
For more information, visit www.britishcycling.org.uk.
Contact details:
Matt Hennessey, Head of Communications
MatthewHennessey@britishcycling.org.uk
Ellie Stott, Great Britain Cycling Team Communications Manager
elliestott@britishcycling.org.uk
Gareth Burrell, Communications and PR Manager
garethburrell@britishcycling.org.uk
Will Kirkpatrick, Communications and PR Officer
Willkirkpatrick@britishcycling.org.uk
Ellie Ruskin, Communications and PR Officer
Ellieruskin@britishcycling.org.uk
| Ellie StottCommunications ManagerGreat Britain Cycling Team |
