Cycling brand Rapha has launched a new British road racing points competition, the Super-League, which includes 16 of the country's "most exciting races".
The competition, which includes road races, criteriums, and stage events, runs from the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix in May through to the Wentworth Woodhouse Grand Prix in August, and sits alongside British Cycling's National Road and Circuit Series.
Both male and female riders will earn points from results across the season, aping the Super-Prestige Pernod, a points-based competition which crowned the best all-rounder across European professional races, which ran from 1959 to 1987. Winners of the men's and women's Super-League will be crowned at the end of August, and will receive £1000 each, a trophy and a winner's sash, at the Super-League Awards Party in London.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly this week, Rapha's UK and EU community marketing manager Jess Morgan explained that the idea had come out of a sense of confusion over the cycling calendar.
"The challenges of the domestic racing scene are well documented," Morgan said. "What could we do at Rapha that would help? Rapha has this longstanding relationship with racing - Rapha Condor, we saved the Lincoln GP, our foundation has donated loads to UK initiatives. We had all this rich history, but I saw that there was a need for something new that wasn’t just sponsorship, something more holistic, something that would draw people into the sport."
"Cycling is really hard to follow," Morgan continued. "If you come into cycling and think it’s cool, and you want to follow the professional side of it, it isn’t easy to follow. There’s no obvious tournament, it’s just lots of different races. There’s no real beginning or end, no big finale at the end of the season. I think that’s one of the reasons people struggle to get into it, both internationally and domestically."
Morgan was a member of British Cycling's elite road racing task force, an independent group assembled to help revive road racing in the UK.
In recent years, races have disappeared, and some of Britain’s leading teams have folded, with no men's Continental squads left.
"We’re just a cycling brand, we don’t run any races ourselves, but there is a way we could make it easier by creating a narrative around the season based around a number of races we can curate," Morgan explained. "We’re going to talk about what’s happening, who’s doing well, how things could change, and then at the end, the person with the most points wins. It’s a much easier-to-understand format."
The move is supported by British Cycling, off the back of the the work done by the task force.
"The Rapha Super-League is an exciting and original concept which highlights a selection of some of the best races our sport has to offer," Jon Dutton, British Cycling's CEO said.
"We want to champion innovative ideas to evolve the domestic cycling scene aligned to our own Lloyds National Series and we look forward to seeing the potential of this new league to help re-energise the bike racing community whilst captivating interest from new fans."
Morgan said the response to the Super-League has been "really positive".
"Everyone can see the goal of the project is to reach more people and to grow the audience of racing," she said. "No one is really going to say no to that. There has been a lot of explaining to do, but the fact that British Cycling is onboard with it has helped to smooth things out.
"Hopefully this will push momentum into road, and bring back the popularity of road cycling again."
"There’s a whole world of racing happening in the UK, and it’s lost a bit of the attention of the wider cycling fandom," she continued. "I think we’re doing something that makes it a bit more exciting and fun. We’re just reminding people, if they need to be reminded, that this is all happening, that it’s always been there, and it’s really good. It’s easy for them to go and watch a bike race, a lot easier than going to the Tour de France."
At the moment, 16 races - listed below - are part of the series, but that number is not fixed for future seasons.
"I would love every race organiser to want to be part of the Super-League," Morgan said.
Find out more at www.rapha.cc/superleague.
2025 Rapha Super-League
11 May: Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix – LINCOLNSHIRE
14-15 June: Ronde Van Wymeswold – NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
21 Jun: VIA Criterium – LONDON
22 June: Tour of The Reservoir – COUNTY DURHAM
27 June: Lloyds National Crit Champs – CEREDIGION
29 June: Lloyds National Road Champs – CEREDIGION
2 July: LOGCO Otley Cycle Races – WEST YORKSHIRE
4 July: Ilkley Cycle Races – WEST YORKSHIRE
9 July: CANYON Guildford Town Centre Races – SURREY
16 July: Sheffield Grand Prix – SOUTH YORKSHIRE
22 July: Fort Vale Colne Grand Prix – LANCASHIRE
25 July: Dawlish Grand Prix – DEVON
27 July: Witheridge Grand Prix – DEVON
17 August: Curlew Cup & Beaumont Trophy – NORTHUMBERLAND
24 August: Cambridge Criterium – CAMBRIDGESHIRE
31 August: Wentworth Woodhouse Grand Prix – SOUTH YORKSHIRE
