Decathlon 16-year-old blows away entire field with incredible British Hill Climb Championships display - but doesn't win elite title
Cycling
Decathlon CMA CGM's development structure has not only served up a 20-year-old monument winner in Paul Seixas, but it seems as if the French team have another prodigy on their hands after 16-year-old Ezra Bateman made waves over the weekend.
With Seixas's meteoric rise followed by Leo Bisiaux's emergence, the French team continue to look to the future with prospects like Aubin Sparfel and Kasper Haugland promoted to the WorldTour team from next season.
However, Bateman appears to be another rider in their setup with a bright future. The first year junior, who turns 17 next month, finds himself riding a wave of momentum after not only winning the junior men's classification at the British Hill Climb National Championships, but blowing away the elite field times in the process.
Bateman produced a faster time than the elite winner Ed Lavarack and second place Andrew Feather, a well-known climbing specialist, on Sunday. The race against the clock saw riders take on a 6.6 kilometre climb with an average gradient of around 5.4 percent.
Paul Seixas won Il Lombardia 2026
Bateman blows away entire field
His time of 14:31.8 was 0.3 seconds faster than Laverack and 0.5 seconds ahead of Feather. However, as he was among the junior category, he was not awarded the elite (open) title. His time saw him take a comfortable win in the junior men's category over 25 seconds ahead of second place Oliver Swinburn.
“To be honest, no, because it’s a different category. Even if I set the fastest time, the two categories are different,” Bateman told The British Continental, downplaying suggestions that he should have been awarded the elite win.
“It feels crazy. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it, so I’m not really sure what to say. I did not see that one coming. I was expecting [Laverack] to beat me here. But I’m pretty happy.”
Bateman has a bright future
Bateman has another year at junior level ahead of him, where he's primed to continue his development with the French team, aiming to turn some encouraging performances such as his Liege-Bastogne-Liege top twenty into bigger successes.
With cycling's evolution seeing some riders advance directly to WorldTour from the junior ranks or after just one year at under-23 level, the British rider is one to watch for the future as he's tipped for success in 2027.
Team leader Seixas was among those to go directly to the pro peloton, earning his stripes in the 2025 season with promising performances throughout the season before making a definitive step up this season - finishing fourth place at the Tour de France and winning Il Lombardia.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- How is this relevant? Perhaps you are doing a Coleridge but not poeticRafionain-Glas26-10-2026
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