'Our plan was to make the race as hard as possible for everyone else, from the first kilometre' – Otto van Zanden edges tight CiCLE Classic

Otto Van Zanden takes the win, with Tom Armstong and Magnus Lorents Nielsen on his heels

(Image credit: Andy Jones)

After almost 180 kilometres of racing, the podium of the Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic was decided during a frenetic 50-metre sprint for the finish on Sunday, as three riders duked it out, with Otto van Zanden (Azerion Villa Valkenburg) taking the win. But only just.

Having placed sixth during last year’s CiCLE Classic, this was the 21-year-old Dutchman’s first road-racing win. But it’s not just any road race. A class 1.2 event that began in 2005, the CiCLE Classic is the longest running single-day international cycling race in the country. Britain’s version of Belgian-style bike racing, it chucks everything at riders, from sections of gravel to rubbly farm tracks and brutal ascents.

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“The crash happened behind us,” explains Van Zanden. “We’d decided we would go full gas on the first gravel section, but we had to rethink. Our plan was to make the race as hard as possible for everyone else, from the first kilometre. We were at the at the front for the sprints, so I just went for it.”

Otto van Zanden (Azerion Villa Valkenburg) gets a pie on the CiCLE Classic podium — The CiCLE Classic might be Britain's most Belgian-flavoured race, but you know you're in England when the winner gets a pork pie prize on the podium

He won both contested King of the Windmill sprints (another was cancelled) and, after 120km, opened up a break, with Danish rider Magnus Lorents Nielsen (Atom 6) going with him. Tom Armstong (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) dug deep and bridged the gap, setting the scene for a fantastic finish.

Nielsen broke first. “I’m not the punchiest guy,” he told CW. “I thought a long sprint was my best chance.” Armstrong got around Nielsen in the final 150 metres. “I knew Van Zanden was really strong,” he said. “I thought if I could get the jump I could hold him off. But after 5 hours racing, and going into a headwind, it was more like a slog than a sprint. The last 50m seemed to happen in slow motion, and he had the legs.”

“In the last half an hour of the race I knew I was the strongest rider in the break,” said Van Zanden. “They didn't want to pull any more, so I was out in the front. But the last few metres was very unpredictable. I threw my bike over the line.”

Tom Armstrong comes a very close second — Armstrong dedicated his race to Vetta Cycling’s Jonno Hornblow

Seconds out - Armstrong rues loss, but dedicates race to Vetta Cycling’s Jonno Hornblow

Second-placed Tom Armstong – who finished flat last in 2025 after a technical derailed his race – thought he had timed his sprint perfectly to take the win this year, and was even visualising his victory speech, when Van Zanden edged past his shoulder.

“It was all going so well, until it wasn’t,” he told CW. “I’ve looked over the stats. I had the gas. I did 1200 watts. But I left the door open. That’s bike riding for you.”

Afterwards, visually emotional, Armstong dedicated the race to Jonno Hornblow from Vetta Cycling, who tragically passed away in February this year.

"He reached out to me last November,” explained Armstong. We chatted, and he sent me some Vetta wheels, and we very quickly built a close relationship. I didn’t know him long, but it's not often you meet people who genuinely want to help you, out of pure passion for the sport.

He loved this event, and put a team in every year. He gave young riders a chance. And then, earlier this year, he went out on a ride and we lost him. He was constantly in my mind as I raced today.”

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.