The Le Col South Downs Hill Climb Series - 2025 Winners

Now in our 5th year! The Le Col South Downs Hill Climb Series is a cycling challenge open to anyone who likes riding bikes up hills as fast as they can. Scattered across the South Downs, there are 8 adult events and one junior event in the series. Entry is open to all, and you can enter as many of the series events as you like. You'll earn points at each event you attend. Your points will be shown on a leader board on this site as they're earned. At the end of the season, we'll add up all your points and find out who'll get crowned King and Queen of the South Downs, not to mention the Prince and Princess, Duke and Duchess and the Masters/Veterans age group winners!

This year is super special for us, as we're delighted to welcome Le Col as our headline sponsor. As well as having a range of great cycling clothing, they have a huge social media reach which they will use to help attract more entries to the series.

A message from Le Col:
"Climbing is at the heart of cycling. It’s where effort meets reward, and where every rider finds their limits and pushes beyond. That’s why we’re proud to support the Le Col South Downs Hill Climb Series, celebrating the challenge, the community, and the pursuit of progress. With our support, we hope to see more riders take on these iconic UK climbs, testing themselves against the gradients and the clock."

Why not get onboard with our 2025 campaign - Let's Climb Those Hills! For many of us, hill climbs are not something that we would consider entering, with reasons of lack of training, not fully appreciating what it’s all about, and perhaps an understandable fear of several minutes of being very, possibly extremely uncomfortable! Let's Climb Those Hills has been setup to address those very issues, and get you to your first Hill Climb! To help any individual on their journey, we have produced individual 20 and 12 week hill climb training plans to get you started. For all the Cycling Clubs out there, we have lots of ideas to share with you on setting up and running a Hill Climb Training Group within your cycling club; all based on our experience of doing exactly that from last year. Time to get busy – Let’s Climb Those Hills.

See the prizes! How to enter Let's Climb Those Hills Training Hub

How to enter

When you enter any of the Hill Climbs listed below you'll automatically get entered into the "South Downs Hill Climb Series" at no cost! Entry can be done at the British Cycling website for the junior event and the CTT (Cycling Time Trials) website for the remaining events; you'll need to register on the appropriate site to enter the events, but registration is easy and free. Please also register with us here as it will be easier for us to communicate results to you and distribute prizes. How does the series work? You'll earn points at each event you attend. 12 points if you come 1st, 11 for 2nd, 10 for 3rd, 9 for 4th etc and 1 point for finishing in 12th or lower. Your points will be shown on a leader board on this site as they're earned. At the end of the season we'll add up all your points and find out who'll get crowned King and Queen, Prince and Princess and Duke and Duchess of the South Downs! There are also series Masters prizes in 5 year age group categories.
Register here!

FAQs

How do the points work?
You'll earn 12 points if you come 1st, 11 for 2nd, 10 for 3rd, 9 for 4th etc and 1 point for finishing in 12th or lower. In the event of a tie, both riders will receive the same number of points.

How do I enter?
You do not need to actively enter the South Down Series although we are encouraging you to use the form on this page to help us make sure we can track your progress accurately and give you updates about sponsors and any changes to the programme. You will automatically earn points by entering any of the events above. You do need to register for these individual events using the links above.

How many rounds must I enter to score points in the Series?
You can enter as many rounds as you like. At each round you have the opportunity to win points to contribute to your tally. You must enter and race a minimum of 2 rounds to qualify for prize money. It is not possible to win a category by riding only 1 round.

I'm kinda new to cycling is this for me?
Time Trial racing is a great intro to enjoying the sport because there are no scary massed starts and nobody is "last" over the line, riders set out in 1 minute intervals. Many riders think of it as challenging themselves to get a personal best versus getting placed. Hill climbs in particular have a great community spirit and riders will be warmly welcomed at any of these events. Riders of all ages and abilities can take part. There are some serious riders who will do amazing times, but there are many riders who are in it for the cake and coffee, a refreshing bike ride and a good laugh.

What are the prizes?
We're working on that! When we've confirmed a sponsor, well publish the details here. PLEASE NOTE: As per our equal opportunity in sport policy we give equal value prizes to male and females in the same category.

What if I miss a round?
You won't get any points for rounds that you don't attend. For the best chance of winning, you should enter as many of the rounds as you can.

Are we looking for Sponsors?
Yes, we are! We've got a number of opportunities for sponsorship. If you would like to know more please get in touch with peter@lenslab.co.uk

How are the veterans times counted?
We're using your finish time to calculate your position, not veteran standardised times.

The Rules

Judges decision is always final
1. You can only win the section you are categorised in within the CTT. For example, if you are a vet and you get the fastest senior time as well as the fastest vet time, you will only be eligible to win the vet prizes. 2. There is only one prize per section, if you are tied with another rider, the prize will be shared across all riders who are equally placed.