“One of the trickiest wins I’ve had”: Cameron Mason battles mud and Barnes pressure for fourth British title

Cameron Mason’s fourth straight British elite cyclocross title in South Shields looked commanding on paper. On the ground, it felt anything but.

After a race defined by frozen ground, deep mud and constant sliding, Mason admitted the victory pushed him harder than most. “It was probably one of the trickiest wins I’ve had,” Mason said after the finish. “I just couldn’t stay on my bike for a couple of those laps. I spent a while trying to get lower pressure as well. But yeah, I put together a couple good laps in a row and managed to get the gap.”

The conditions made even basic riding uncertain. “A really tricky course, it was like frozen underneath the mud, so it was really hard to kind of dig in. There were no ruts, there were no lines, just all mud.”

Mason took the lead during the opening lap and never fully lost control, but it was not a smooth solo. He repeatedly struggled on off-cambers and technical sections, even as the gap opened. “Honestly, the gap came down at the end because I was still struggling to just get around all the off cambers,” he said. “Toby pushed me absolutely all the way.”

That pressure came from Toby Barnes, who rode the race of his life to finish second, his best ever result at the British championships.

Barnes explained how he tried to use Mason in the early stages. “I kind of rode my own race, used Cam where I could when it was a strong headwind, tried to tuck in behind him,” he said.

As the race went on, Barnes began to believe he could win. “There’s a few technical sections where I felt really good. So I’d lead a couple of times, got a little gap. I thought halfway through, well, we’re still with him. I could win.”

But Mason always seemed to have one more answer. “Then he got away. And then second last lap, I think I pulled it back maybe to about 10 seconds. And then last lap, he found another gear, and went again.”

By the finish, Mason raised four fingers to mark a fourth national title, but his words told the real story. Between sliding tyres, constant pressure changes and Barnes refusing to let go, this was not a routine defence. It was a fight through mud, doubt and one relentless rival.