'I’m probably just a bit of a sufferer, able to dig deep' – Robyn Clay, Cycling Weekly's domestic rider of the year, is only just getting started

Robyn Clay is Cycling Weekly's domestic rider of 2025. This feature originally appeared in Cycling Weekly magazine on 4th December 2025. Subscribe now and never miss an issue.

Robyn Clay had a lot of success in 2025. There were five race wins, both the National Road and National Circuit Series, and the inaugural Rapha Super-League too – all by a 21-year-old who had only started racing at elite level a couple of years previously. It was not hard to select our domestic rider of the season.

What meant most to Clay, though, was not one of the victories or titles. Intriguingly. It was her performance in the under-23 individual time trial at the British National Championships in June, where she finished second, 51 seconds behind the winner, Millie Couzens.

“I felt I couldn’t have executed it any better,” Clay told Cycling Weekly last month. “I just timed it perfectly with my form, coming after a couple of stage races that had got me into really good shape. I managed to follow the plan exactly, to the extent that the result didn't really matter, as I couldn’t have gone any faster.”

That comment might give some insight into the latest female star to emerge from the British racing scene. The stand-out year has seen Clay transfer from Continental team DAS-Hutchinson to Women’s WorldTour squad Picnic PostNL. The 22-year-old modestly attributes her winning formula not to talent alone, but also fortune. “

I think I was really lucky,” she said. “Even being injured at the start of the season was a blessing in disguise, because it forced me to not start too early, and then I was ready at the right time. I didn’t really have any bad crashes, and no illness, which disturbs your flow.”

Born into biking

The rider from Otley, Yorkshire, comes from a cycling family, so her genes are clearly working for her – her dad is 1998 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jonny Clay, and her mum is former elite rider Danielle Davis.

Further inspiration came from the Tour de France’s visit to Yorkshire when Clay was 10, and the World Championships arriving in Harrogate when she was 15. Perhaps surprisingly, she did not fully commit to life on two wheels until the pandemic.

“It's always been in my life,” she explained. “When I was quite young, I did a bit of grasstrack. Both my parents were professionals, so it was always going to be a part of my life, but I was mostly focused on football, and I hardly rode my bike until I was 16. But during Covid, I started riding quite a lot more and decided I wanted to take it a bit more seriously, so I quit football.”

It has been a steep trajectory for Clay, from her local Otley Race Team to Picnic PostNL, via Pro-Noctis and DAS-Hutchinson, in just five seasons. It makes her success all the more impressive; pre-pandemic, she was still a footballer practising against a “brick wall at the back”, as she puts it.

The breakout season did not come from nowhere, though. There were many signs, not least victory at the Curlew Cup last year, the final race of the National Road Series. Now, just one year later, Clay holds both series titles after an incredibly consistent 2025.

“The first two rounds, my mindset was just to do what I could,” she said. “I got two solid results, and that put me into the lead; then, at Lincoln, I was still in the lead, so I thought I might as well try and hold on to it… I knew if I was consistent, and I showed up to every race, and I could be in the running for it.”

This success has not come without jeopardy. Last year she suffered an injury so serious it could have completely derailed her career. A crash in Belgium left her with four broken vertebrae – but she was back on the bike within six weeks. “It could have been much worse,” she pointed out. That she was so quickly back in the bunch, racing on the margins once more is further testament to her grit and courage.

Into the big leagues

Away from the National A races, Clay grasped opportunities to ride bigger events, with DAS taking part in the Amstel Gold Race and the Tour of Britain Women. She DNF’d at the former, after spending time in the break, while she came ninth in the youth classification at the ToB.

“Turning up [at Amstel Gold], getting a tap from Demi Vollering because she wants to move up, then looking right and seeing Marianne Vos – it’s crazy,” she said of her experiences. “At the Tour of Britain, spending more time with pros like Lizzie Deignan was a dream. I’m sure I’ll eventually get used to it, but it’ll take a while.”

Clay is still young – she turned 22 in October – and is still working out who she is on the bike, a development process her new team will be keen to nurture.

“I can sprint fairly well, so if there's a reduced bunch, I'd fancy my chances, but not in a pure bunch sprint,” she explained, before turning to her climbing aptitude. “I can usually hang on, but I’m definitely not a climber. I guess I’m fairly punchy, and suited to time trialling as well – I’m probably just a bit of a sufferer, able to dig deep.”

This skillset seems well matched to the Classics, a hypothesis that might get tested sooner rather than later. Along with Cat Ferguson, Zoe Bäckstedt and Pfeiffer Georgi, among others, there is a promising new generation of British one-day racers coming through.

Having completed the domestic scene, Clay is fixing on new targets for 2026, which is set to be a big learning opportunity. But don’t expect her to vanish into the peloton, because Robyn Clay is only getting started.