HHV Crit League
Friday 1/8/15/29
May 2026
Short, fun and sweet – road crit racing for all levels. Improve your bike handling and race craft. Take a shot at our tight and twisty circuit that takes in some of Herne Hill Velodrome's iconic features.
Youth / Women / Open
Our Road Bike Crit League will held on our unique and technical circuit with pacy racing for all ages and abilities. With twists and turns galore, expect fast, close quarters racing and plenty of action.
Jan’s Cafe is open during the racing for drinks and snacks.
Racing is free to spectate at Herne Hill Velodrome and there’s no need to book in advance: come and join us and enjoy some top notch live racing while enjoying a drink and snack from the cafe!
We’ll be hosting a series of crit racing skills sessions in the run up to the events.
Course / Race Timings / Youth Crit Info / Senior Crit info / Volunteering
COURSE MAP
Combining the banked velodrome with the tarmac sections on the infield, the course that we use is truly unique; half is very technical with lots of corners to help challenge riders' bike handling and the other half puts riders to the test physically. All-in-all it's a really well balanced course and will lead to some very exciting racing
YOUTH RACING - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
At Herne Hill we are passionate about getting kids into racing and crit league is the perfect place to start! It’s the perfect progression for those who have regularly been coming to our new Youth Crit Training session and are looking to make their first step into racing.
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Our youth racing is split into 2 age based categories:
Youth C/D
Under 10 and Under 12Youth A/B
Under 14 and Under 16 -
Session experience
We ask that all riders either have previous experience of crit racing, or have been attending our Youth Crit Skills session. Not sure if you’re ready to race? Just ask the coaches.British Cycling Membership
Racers will need to have either a full, provisional or day licence issued by British Cycling in order to race. Some British Cycling Youth Membership includes a provisional race licence and for new racers if you join a BC affiliated club, you will receive one year of membership for free, along with a racing licence. Youth Day Licences are available for non-members and can be purchased on the day for at sign-on £1.50.Bike
All riders need their own road bikeGear restrictions
Riders’ bike MUST comply with youth gear restrictions: there is a guide here about how to check this and limit gears if necessary. This will be checked on the night and riders without the correct set up may not be able to race. -
Sign on opens at 6pm in the Clubroom, upstairs in the pavilion.
A briefing will take place at the track entrance at 6.15pm, and is followed by 10 mins open course practice.
Youth C/D
Race starts at 6.30pm
Youth A/B
Race starts at 6.45pm
Entry fee
Each night’s racing costs £6.60Prizes awarded in all categories at the final round of the series on 29 May 2026.
SENIOR RACING - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you’re new to racing, then crit racing is a great place to start! It’s the perfect progression for those who have regularly been attending Adult Road Bike Crit Skills session and are looking to make their first step into racing.
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Racing in senior categories is open to Women Cat 2, 3 or 4 racers and Open Cat 3 or 4 racers.
Session experience
We ask that all riders either have previous experience of crit racing or have been attending our Adult Road Bike Crit Skills. Not sure if you’re ready to race? Just ask the coaches. -
Race Licences
All racers will need to have either a full, provisional or day licence issued by British Cycling in order to race.
If you are racing on a provisional licence or are not a British Cycling Race Member you will need to purchase a licence on the day at sign-on (the cost will be between £5-£10, as detailed here)
British Cycling Race Membership includes a provisional race licence. You can purchase a full racing licence in addition to your membership.
Riders on provisional or day licence will not be awarded British Cycling ranking points in any qualifying races.
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Sign on opens at 6.45pm in the Clubroom, upstairs in the pavilion.
A briefing will take place at the track entrance 20 mins before your race start time, and is followed by 15 mins open course practice.
Women’s Race at 7.20pm / Open Race at 8.05pm
Entry fee
Each night’s racing costs £12.95 for seniors
Bike
All riders need their own road bikePrizes awarded in all categories at the final round of the series on 29 May 2026.
VOLUNTEERING
One major aim of Crit League is to lead the way in self-sufficient bike racing.
We ask adult racers to try to volunteer on one night of racing and help out with sign-on, marshalling, judging, course setup / take down etc - you can volunteer for all or part of the evening (i.e. help with sign on and then race or help with take down after the race). All volunteers should arrive by 6pm.
Please use the SignUp to register your volunteering spot.
SCORING & RESULTS
Results for the 2025 League
Top 10 placing riders in each category each week will score points in the league as follows 1-10
10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1