MUCKERS 2026 JANUARY CHAMPIONSHIP RACE 1.
PLEASE REMEMBER IF YOU ARE OWED ANY PRIZES FROM LAST YEAR IN THIS OR THE HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP, YOU HAVE TILL THE END OF JANUARY TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZES. PLEASE EMAIL: INFO@MUCKERWORLDWIDE.COM WITH YOUR ROUVY NAME, WHAT YOU ARE CLAIMING AND EMAIL TO SEND THE CODES TO.
ROUTE AND RACE DETAILS:
Puerto de Bèrnia | Spain | 14.55 miles | 1,594 ft. Climbing
ROUVY SAYS: This is the perfect pro tempo loop. It’s a rolling 30km ride through the Spanish countryside with the scenic, steady climb of Puerto de Bèrnia as its centerpiece. Ideal for testing your endurance and finding that all-day rhythm.
WE SAY: 2026 ALREADY!!! And like we promised, the first Race is a no-draft TT effort as well!! Just to get you back into it, but also give you a bit of an idea where you are as there’s no draft to hide behind or blur the figures. We ran this over 2 days just because our “normal” Thursday landed on New Years day so wanted to give everyone an extra day to join in. Also as we are running a separate Championship based just on these once a month TT races, we really didn’t want people to miss out on the first round… yes… because we are nice that way….., But February will be back to normal service although you do have a chance on the Wednesday to have a 1st/Early run at it via the “Recon” race at 19:30 UK but then its Just the usual Thursday time slots.
We have also decided only to implement the HR data rule for this first round TT race. We really want you guys to go all out on this and not worry about maybe hitting that 5.0, plus we’ve decided to try and trust riders weights… but only for this TT version for now. but for the next 3 races in the months Championship, we will be back to the normal 3 rules: HR date, no average w/kg 5.0 or over and no Male riders under 60kgs.
So basically we’ve given you 3 championships for the price of one this year on Thursdays! You’ve got the TT only championship that is 1 race a month, The monthly championship to see how you do over 4 races, then the World championship leaderboard for those who get into the top 50 that month but are in it for the Year!. All whilst getting through the challenge routes! I know !! we are amazing…. or just need our heads examining…. Lets decide that at the end of the year shall we……
12 different time slots were scheduled for this over the last 2 days so lets see how many finishers we have 🤞🤞🤞: 153. That’s a much better start than what i thought we were going to get, so now lets make sure everyone was supplying HR data and then do our first re learn of the categories for this year: 33 riders didn’t supply HR data and have been removed. Please riders, even if it means just getting a cheap £25 HR monitor and strap from Amazon like i did, just get one as lots of Race organizers ask for this data to be included not just us so you’ll find yourself being removed from lots of race results on NITEOR, and from your own stand point, it really is a great piece of kit to give you more data as you ride.
Categories are now re learned, and as per usual it’s thrown up some strange ones for some, but we trust the process and hopefully after a few more races it’ll start to even out. I think its down to lack of data that we get the strange ones, so the more they turn up and hit the learn button, the closer it’ll get to a real category for those riders.
Please note: the top 10 from last years World Championship do take the first lot of Ballast straight away. We did the same last year, i am just not sure if we’d made that clear we were doing it again. So these 10 riders will have ballast straight away: BareRemi, karel_sousek, VeloBuch, Hans.Holm.Moeller, Grochang, m-forby, lrollin, Akoval, Przemokrk and Thomas_Lyhne. It’s also really nice to see 8 of these 10 turn up for this first race as well.
FULL LEADERBOARD RESULTS FROM THIS RACE:
*Points before Ballast Added.
CATEGORY ROUND UP:
Your Category is not set in stone! it is re-learned after every race and takes all your averages you do with us so please keep this in mind when checking your results as your category might move up or down at the end of the month compared to the start of the month depending on your performances.
The top 3 in Each Category Leaderboard at the end of the Month, get the chance to have Bonus Points Added to there World Championship Points BUT only if they managed to secure a top 50 place in the Months Championship in the first place
TOP 3 ELITE RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: TijsV
2: BareRemi
3: Andrus17
ELITE LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
 | TijsV | 245.00 | 45-49 |
 | Andrus17 | 237.00 | 35-39 |
 | BareRemi | 235.95 | 35-39 |
| 4. | chajensen | 230.00 | 55-59 |
| 5. | ErlendSundstrom | 224.00 | 19-34 |
TOP 3 CAT. A1 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Adam96
2: Tuden
3: IvanSagan86
A1 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
| Adam96 | 239.00 | 19-34 |
| Tuden | 235.00 | 50-54 |
| IvanSagan86 | 220.00 | 55-59 |
| 4. | karel_sousek | 207.23 | 45-49 |
| 5. | lrollin | 206.91 | 50-54 |
TOP 3 CAT. A2 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Tim_U
2: Hans.Holm.Moeller
3: nielsbrynnum
A2 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
| Tim_U | 227.00 | 60-64 |
| Hans.Holm.Moeller | 201.41 | 55-59 |
| nielsbrynnum | 200.00 | 55-59 |
| 4. | HelmSyerforest | 197.00 | 45-49 |
| 5. | DommeNic | 194.00 | 45-49 |
TOP 3 CAT. A3 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: AlanHann
2: Rubberburn.Marc
3: EddyDomino
A3 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
| AlanHann | 192.00 | 60-64 |
| Rubberburn.Marc | 190.00 | 55-59 |
| EddyDomino | 182.00 | 55-59 |
| 4. | Dave12 | 179.00 | 40-44 |
| 5. | Grochang | 164.50 | 50-54 |
TOP 3 CAT. A4 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Stefan793
2: MikeHagen
3: Bane71
A4 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
| Stefan793 | 207.00 | 55-59 |
| MikeHagen | 177.00 | 70-74 |
| Bane71 | 170.00 | 55-59 |
| 4. | chorus | 155.00 | 50-54 |
| 5. | akoval | 138.95 | 40-44 |
TOP 3 CAT. A5 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: LarsPl
2: Squalo_delle_Alpi
3: DanWren
A5 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
| LarsPl | 100.00 | 55-59 |
| Squalo_delle_Alpi | 94.10 | 45-49 |
| DanWren | 93.70 | 50-54 |
| 4. | MNHROUVY | 93.40 | 55-59 |
| 5. | Christophe56 | 93.10 | 55-59 |
TOP 3 CAT. A6 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: S.Ludford
2: jnovak74
3: ksmo
A6 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
| S.Ludford | 94.40 | 55-59 |
| jnovak74 | 94.30 | 50-54 |
| ksmo | 93.90 | 55-59 |
| 4. | Bates1980 | 93.60 | 55-59 |
| 5. | JJ_1971 | 93.20 | 55-59 |
TOP 3 CAT. A7 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Slyfly
2: Mucker1974
3: Jojje76
A7 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
| Slyfly | 94.20 | 60-64 |
| Mucker1974 | 92.10 | 50-54 |
| Jojje76 | 91.90 | 55-59 |
| 4. | ValRdz | 91.80 | 19-34 |
| 5. | batbuilder | 91.50 | 55-59 |
TOP 3 CAT. A8 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: cdtchris
2: StepanB
3: Demonmarco
A8 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
| cdtchris | 91.10 | 65-69 |
| StepanB | 90.80 | 50-54 |
| Demonmarco | 89.80 | 55-59 |
| 4. | EatmorCake | 89.60 | 75-79 |
| 5. | VirtualC | 89.00 | 55-59 |
TOP 3 CAT. A9 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Sille63
2: Eliotrician
3: Fanarim
A9 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
| Pos. | Rider | Points | Age |
| Sille63 | 89.70 | 55-59 |
| Eliotrician | 88.70 | 55-59 |
| Fanarim | 88.50 | 55-59 |
| 4. | VDB1985 | 0.00 | 55-59 |
| 5. | ValSto | 0.00 | 55-59 |
THIS MONTHS TOP 100 LEADERBOARD SO FAR:
*Ballast added to this table
The Aim here is to get into the top 50 positions by the end of each 4 week period. If you do, you get World Championship points that are updated every month for the year.
Top 10 at the end of the Month get ballast added which is basically a percentage figure your points get deduced by.
We use your best 10 Months Out of 12 for the world championship.
LINK TO NITEOR PAGE:
This is where you can find all the data, full lists, full run down of races (past and future) and if you join, which is free, you can get even better insight into your rides. Give it a go, it’s really good. Even if you just use it for the ROUTE ANALYZER that helps you pick the best wheels and frame based on your data for the actual route your looking at makes it worth a look.
https://www.niteor.com/events/MUCKERS%202026%20WORLD%20CHAMPIONSHIP
TO FINISH OFF:
Nice start to 2026. We are really happy with the new points structure which allows everyone from 51st to 100th to have 90 something points. This means if you finish 4 races, you are more than likely to get 360 points minimum which gives you a really good chance to get top 50 by the end of the month! This should also see less riders in the top 50 who only completed 2 races that month. If we can reward more riders who join us week in / week out, then we will be happy!
We have revised our start times this year and re-named some but basically we have a no-draft “RECON” version on the Wednesday at 19:30 UK,
“2LATE4ME” @ 23:30 Wednesday,
“2EARLY4ME” @ 05:30 Thursday,
“RISE&RIDE” @ 09:30 Thursday,
“NOON” @ 12:30 Thursday
“BRUNCH” @ 15:30 Thursday
And then the main race @ 18:30 Thursday.
All the results get blended into 1 leaderboard as the races finish so you can keep track of how everyone’s doing as the riders start to cross the line via the link for the race 2 below:
https://www.niteor.com/events/MUCKERS%202026%20WORLD%20CHAMPIONSHIP/stages/2
Our Next Muckers event is the start of our Sunday Hill Climb championship. 2 start times, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and a leaderboard based only on elevation! We ran it for the first time last year and it seems to have worked really well, as its not about how fast you get up the climb, all that matters is that you cross the line then you get the same points as everyone else who did the same. It really shows the comradery of what being a Mucker is all about, which is how we are all here for each other and want each and everyone of us to do well! link Below is for the actual event on NITEOR where you can see we already have the first 6 climbs sorted from current challenges on ROUVY.
https://www.niteor.com/events/MUCKERS%202026%20HILL%20CLIMB%20CHAMPIONSHIP
Then on Tuesday we have the Muckers w/kg training championship (optional!😏) On Tuesdays you can do whatever you like. Race, Train, Pace, Recover whatever. We try and schedule the “shorter” challenge routes and for those that fancy something different, we are trying out a w/kg target championship for Tuesdays. So this first one of the month will be closest to an average of 2.0w/kg gets the best point. week 2 will be closest to 2.3w/kg, week 3 closest to 2.5w/kg, week 4 closest to 2.8w/kg and those odd occasions where we have 5 Tuesdays, the 5th Tuesday will be closest to 3.0w/kg. Training, but it ramps up as the month goes along. We’ve added The Target average w/kg will be in the Race title in brackets. Here’s the link to that event on NITEOR:
https://www.niteor.com/events/MUCKERS%202026%20WKG%20TRAINING%20CHAMPIONSHIP
But if you still just want to rock up and race as hard as you can, NITEOR have agreed to run that championship again this year themselves alongside our w/kg target one.
I think that’s enough information for now. It’ll all make sense as we get going but thank you all for giving them a go.
Well done to all who did this TT race, thank you for checking out the blog, please leave a comment if you get the chance (please add your ROUVY name so we know who you are) and lastly thank you to all who have read this to the very end.
Mucker1974
interesting start of the year for me. 1st off i re checked my weight and had to change that on ROUVY. I was set to ride on Friday, but at 3pm on Thursday it became clear i have a window to jump on the BRUNCH race so i rushed around, got ready and was on the bike at 15:20 but, i didn’t know what the right bike and wheel combo was and couldn’t get onto the analyzer to check. Ill go TT bike and wheels as it does look to have a nice bit on green on this route. Tried my best to haul the TT bike up the climb at around 3.0w/kg but everyone was streaming by me. 😲! got to the top and set off after everyone and caught one rider quite quickly then the next group were quite far away, but i closed the gap rapidly and to be honest, i was having great fun keeping the TT bike flying along the green rolling section. But my time was not what i wanted.
I tried the next day with the bike and wheel combo the analyzer suggested and was up for the challenge! But as i got onto the climb and the segment details popped up on the right, my PB from the day before was 30 seconds up the road and either holding me off, or actually pulling away! I Just couldn’t catch myself, yet i was on the better bike for this section! This totally killed off all motivation and i was left 1 minute behind my PB on the climb, and at the end of it all, 2 mins slower than the effort from the day before.
I’m also now classified as in A7 instead of A6 which is my usual category so this was not the start i was expecting, but a real wake up call!! hopefully its all upwards from here and time to stop eating and drinking like a 20 year old! (but i did have an amazing xmas and new year lol)
I do like a TT effort, I can apply a steady strategy as the high intensity kickers in a race are generally ‘my undoing’. As with Neil, I applied my Xmas weight into the settings and was ready to go.
I split the race in half and decided to attack the climb at a constant 3.2w/kg with the peak as my finish line. Then hopefully freewheel much of the descent getting my heart rate down before trying to hold 3.0w/kg on the final flat run in to the finish.
Overall, very happy with the result, 100kg up any climb is difficult. Having a mass start TT requires a lot of concentration as you must ignore every rider and stick to your own plan, it was nice to catch up and pass some riders but I never let it impact my plan.
Happy New Year
cheers Ste, yeah the others are just there aren’t they and can be used to compare yourself to as no ones in a draft pack up front or behind.
You smashed it though and really impressed by it. Well done.
Basically, I started ’26 with the good pace I had at the end of the previous year. I ran our long event with a fever; I’m proud to be one of the many crazy people in the group. I was at home sick for 6 days, but I raced almost every day.
I’m starting to enjoy a TT race every now and then, but maybe because I’m not recovered yet, my performance leaves me a little sad about my 60th place overall, even though I took second place in A5.
Starting tomorrow, I’ll finally be out, and then we’ll see each other again for the next challenges 💪🫶🏻.
See you next time 👋🦈
Hard to ignore that the country of which I am a citizen has just illegally invaded Venezuela….I did have a few thoughts about the start to this new Mucker year, so I will give it a go. I am thinking that The time trial is an acquired taste, like marmite, haggis, mushy peas, and warm beer. I the spent 45:00 minutes thrashing about, had no idea what I was doing. I went with a moderately paced start, which left me a bit gap to the always very solid Mike because it turns out we did the same time on that timed section to the very second. Then the plan was to go very very hard on the second climb, with the thought that the downhill would be meh. I was closing steadily on Mike all the way, but then he was gone, taking some 90 seconds off me by the finish. So if any of you muckers have advice on how to do a good time trial, especially Brit muckers as you folks invented this form of torture, please share..pacing, cadence, gearing, what to eat for breakfast etc..
Addendum #1 If anyone missed The Bern, he is taking the year off. Passed the baton to Pablo, a slightly less edgy, but smooth dude.
Addendum # Neil, by any chance you were referring to me when discussing category rankings? Not in my wildest thoughts am I A1 category. Maybe Niteor was time traveling back to when I was in my mid 20s and could run sub 50 minutes for 10 miles? Maybe because out of everyone who raced this time trial I had the highest 5 minute w?kg? true fact. Probably happened when I was unsuccessfully able to chase Mike down before the descent?
Addendum #3 I hope to have the health and good fortune to participate in all things muckers in 2026,,,the hill climbs too, but not too fast, and the Tuesday new format like 2 x w/ k etc would be a good training tool. Anyway, happy new year everyone and cheers.
I think Ste explains it best, just gotta pace it hard, recover when you can, then empty the tank when you know you cross the line totally empty. I’m paraphrasing but that seems to be the best way to tackle a TT and NOT the way i did it lol
Ermmm…. So you are now Pablo1945? Any reason for the change… again??
wasn’t just your category, quite a few others like the rider who’s classed as Elite but is 96th. It’d be great to get NITEORs explanation to this rather than why i “think” its happening which is due to what they et themselves up as and then the lack of data from these riders.
happy new year to you too and hopefully see you on some of the other rides. I’m interested to see if any of you hitters can ride at 2.0w/kg, i think that’ll be harder for you guys than my lot trying to hit a constant 2.8 at the end of the month.
so, the change to Pablo, just for a change..like why do we get new cycling kit when we already have enough for two lifetimes. And the category rating, who knows, but I have been hitting the segments really hard, even when I promised myself to just chill. Kind of like fartlek training, which I loved as a runner, and carried over to the bike..just riding along and then blast for 3-5 minutes, and then chill again. Fartlek is a super way of building a powerful physical and mental racing engine. And as for doing 2.0 on Tuesdays, smart money probably not on it, but will give it my very best uneffort. cheers again
not a good start to 2026 – my heart rate monitor must have malfunctioned – I posted a good time (for me) but I suspect I was discqualified due to the heart rate monitor, I didn’t even notice, I really don’t even pay any attention to my heart rate during a race, so I didn’t notice that it wasn’t registering. !!!!! There is always next week.
Ah crap!! sorry Mucker. I don’t actually look at whos gets a DSQ as NITEOR just has it as a button to removed all with no HR. i then just see the total number. Sorry this happened and as you know, it’s nothing personal, just a rule we use to keep those e-bike or “faulty” equipment riders away.
I like TTs. The test of truth: you against the clock. Park yourself on your lactic threshold and don’t slow down. Bloody-minded persistence is a skill-set; it takes practice! I wasn’t happy with my Farnham H10/8 TT last week and brooding about it had me in the right mental mindset. So I set off determined to hold 4s, and to just do it. Simonjp set a really nice pace the first few kms, made it easier to get properly warmed up and into the right frame of mind. I watched RaTim closing for a bit, until he wasn’t. Pablo1945 was stubbornly sticking not too far behind, but it didn’t really matter, I was doing my race. 4.1 on the first climb, 4.0 on the second, though I was suffering the last few hundred meters to the summit. Over the top and it’s not over! Keep the power going. Thanks to Rouvy’s virtural gearing I wasn’t spinning out. Coasted in the braking zones, sprinted to get back up to speed; I caught three riders on the way down and was pushing 5 the last minutes to empty the tank. Very pleased the way it worked out. Only have to do it 11 more times this year!
nice one Mike and I’m pleasantly surprised by how well everyone’s taking the first race TT schedule.
Excellent addition to the championship with all these TTs – Still horrible (as allways) though – and how could it be anything else on january 2? Really suffered on the steeper sections of the two climbs. Tried to pace it after Laurent’s (lrollin) time as we often end up together in the races, but just couldn’t close the gap to more than 19 seconds – Went as hard as I could on the day, just managed to squeeze in under 42 minutes with an average pf 4.24 w/kg and kept many strong riders behind me, so have to be satisfied. Happy New Year everyone 👋🏻
It really is a great way to see how you compare isn’t it. I was only doing it originally as a way to learn the categories as close to everyone’s flat out figures as possible, but the NITEOR changed its algorithm so that every race it learns and adjusts as necessary. But i also wanted to offer everyone around the world at least one race where the start time didn’t matter. So kept faith with it and after we did the Farnham one for the last race of the world championship and the positive experience that was, i was confident you guys would all take it on! Can’t keep everything the same every year as that just gets boring doesn’t it so lets see if everyone’s still loving it by December time and it might stay for 2027.