Illi Gardner overcomes wild weather to claim the 2026 British hill-climbing crown

Illi Gardner at the top of the hill climb — (Image credit: Markovich James Photography)

Illi Gardner rose to the occasion at this year's National Hill-Climb championships, winning her fourth title on Porlock Toll Road in Somerset on Sunday.

The men’s race was won by Welshmen Ed Laverack (Assos UK Race Team), but the fastest time of the day was set by 16-year-old Ezra Bateman (Decathlon CMA CGM Juniors) who finished in 14:31, beating Laverack by 0.2 seconds, but he was awarded the junior title, rather than the senior version.

There was no such controversy in the Women’s race, with Gardner, who wears the colours of Cardiff Ajax CC, stopping the clock atop the 6.6km-long climb on to the shoulders of Exmoor at 17:33, beating second-placed Maria Holdcroft (Cowley Road Condors CC) by 40 seconds.

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There was some confusion over third place, however, after it was initially given to Rebekah Hendrickse (EMC Cycling), who was then listed as disqualified in the provisional results (seeming for failing to sign on properly), with the last podium spot going to Karolina Zydelyte (Dulwich Paragon CC).

The women's podium at the 2026 Hill Climbing Champs

Gardner, who successfully defended her Everesting World Championship title earlier this month, said the weather conditions were awful, but the long course suited her. “On the day I kind of freaked out a bit, and didn't handle it very well,” she told Cycling Weekly afterwards. “But in training I’ve been forcing myself to go out and do efforts when it's not so nice outside, and I think that helps a lot.”

“It's always difficult when it's quite chilly as well. Obviously aerodynamics are important, but it feels horrible to be wearing just a jersey and shorts when it's 10 degrees.”

The 27-year-old admits that her training was a bit up-and-down. “I didn't do a huge amount of hill climbs in the lead up, unfortunately,” she told us, although she did have a solid excuse. “I was hoping to do more, but I did the Everesting World Championships about four weeks ago, so that was obviously a lot longer. It's a 14-hour event, and I was kind of focussed on training for that for a while.”

Neither did she stick to her game plan on the day, but it all worked out well in the end. “I was hoping to pace the effort and leave a bit more energy for that upper section, because, I'd heard people were facing pretty horrific headwinds,” Illi explained. “But I got a bit excited and ended up doing the opposite, and setting out way too hard, and then I was really slogging it into the wind at the top.”

Having recently clipped in as News & Features Writer for Cycling Weekly, Pat has spent decades in the saddle of road, gravel and mountain bikes pursuing interesting stories. En route he has ridden across Australia's Great Dividing Range, pedalled the Pirinexus route around the Catalan Pyrenees, raced through the Norwegian mountains with 17,000 other competitors during the Birkebeinerrittet, fatbiked along the coast of Wales, explored the trails of the Canadian Yukon under the midnight sun and spent umpteen happy hours bikepacking and cycle-touring the lost lanes and hidden bridleways of the Peak District, Exmoor, Dartmoor, North Yorkshire and Scotland. He worked for Lonely Planet for 15 years as a writer and editor, contributed to Epic Rides of the World and has authored several books.