Ribble Weldtite’s demise leaves British road racing in precarious position

Successful Brit team’s imminent closure a portent for the future of domestic competition

- Tom Thewlis

In 2019, there were six UCI Continental teams registered in the United Kingdom. Fast forward to the end of the 2022 road season and there are just three left.

Despite last-minute efforts, it was revealed last week that due to a significant shortfall in sponsorship, Ribble Weldtite, one of the UK’s most successful teams, would be no more at the end of the year.

The loss of the team leaves just Saint Piran, Trinity Racing and WiV SunGod flying the flag for the UK at UCI Continental level in the men’s category. Losing an entity like Ribble Weldtite also now means a heavy reduction in places for talented British riders to compete on the UK scene, which was acknowledged by Trinity Racing general manager, Andrew McQuaid.

He said: “Finding money is extremely difficult, so I have a lot of sympathy for them. It’s really hard to run a team when you’re counting every penny. It was a really good place for riders who had kind of gotten a little bit lost in the WorldTour as well as good young riders, so it’s a loss of 15-20 spots for quality riders to go to.”

Charlie Tanfield who rode for Ribble Weldtite in 2022, admitted to CW that he believes the British Cycling National Series is now “disconnected from Europe” due to a lack of promotion, meaning riders are forced to compete elsewhere for exposure.

“What’s happening now is a lot of younger guys are getting snapped up early and bypassing the UK scene. I think a lot of younger guys then don’t come to the UK because it’s in a bad way,” Tanfield said. “Looking back to a team like JLT-Condor, guys like Eddie Dunbar, Matt Gibson, Chris Lawless were all coming through the domestic scene.”