"As soon as you don't have the stripes, you really miss them": Fred Wright reclaims the UK road title after three years

After two seasons with INEOS, the British national title returns into the hands of Fred Wright. The 27-year-old rider of Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team came out on top after a 187-kilometer tactical race on a circuit in Aberystwyth.

The race was very open from the opening kilometers with parcours causing a limited natural selection, it became a battle of attrition as much as wit. In the end, it's taken until the entrance of local final circuit with about 60 kilometers to go for the winning move to go.

Alongside Wright, Lewis Askey (NSN) and Connor Swift from the team of defending champion were part of this group. Elliot Rowe (Visma DT) and Matthew Dodd (INEOS Academy) were present, but their battle was focused on the under-23 title and neither could keep up on the last lap.

"It was a typical National Championships really, attacks from the start, full gas racing until a select group formed," Wright said post-race according to Cycling Weekly. "It's random but at the same time it does follow the same pattern: we take chunks out of each other for as long as we can and then a select group forms. I was happy to make that group and then we slowly whittled it down. The three of us were the strongest on the day and I played my cards well in the final."

While Connor Swift is not particularly known for his end speed, Lewis Askey was a tough challenger for the final sprint. However Wright trusted his wealth of experience of two extra seasons in WorldTour to prevail - and he just about manage to do that on the line.

"I was trying not to think about it [winning] at the end. The year [2023-2024] I had in the stripes was really special and as soon as you're not in them you really miss it. I was trying not to think about it too much in the last 10km. Just think about racing, how you would do things normally, without going too crazy."

Part of Pinarello's (still only) preliminary selection for Tour de France alongside GC leader Tom Pidcock and Quinten Hermans, Wright hopes to bring the special jersey to Barcelona this Saturday. "It's such a special thing, and I'm really happy to hopefully take these to the Tour. That's always special."

Next to that, the London-native is thrilled by the idea of rocking local roads of Tour of Britain later this September in front of home crowds. Last year, Wright came close to a stage win in Cardiff after his breakaway was caught on the line.

"I do love it, I hope I can start the Tour of Britain this year, I don't know what my schedule will be. It's lovely racing on British roads, we've had a really nice day here. We've had a really nice weekend at the seaside."

All in all, Pinarello enjoyed a successful National Championships weekend with not one but two special jerseys for the Swiss ProTeams. And not just any; next to the UK title, Marcel Camprubí showed great determination to take him a prestigious Spanish title.