Where the Road Tilts Up: Reflecting on the Climb Championship — and the Ultimate Test Ahead
If the Individual Time Trial exposes pacing, the Climb Championship exposes character. Across the first two editions of the SISU Racing Club Championships, the climbing stage has been the moment where contenders either cemented their campaign or watched it unravel.
The inaugural 2023/24 Championship was tailor made for the pure mountain goats, sending riders up the brutal Road to Sky. It was steep, selective, and unapologetic perfect terrain for featherweight climbers with elite power-to-weight. A year later, 2024/25 offered no reprieve. Radio Rendezvous demanded sustained strength and patience, rewarding riders who could sit on the edge of discomfort without crossing it. Different climbs, same outcome: only the mentally and physically resilient survived.
Those efforts crowned a formidable group of reigning champions. In the men’s field, Martin Mathiasen (A, Denmark) once again proved his all-round dominance, while Eddie Monnier (B, USA), Martin Dompierre (C, Canada), Clive Bednall (D, UK), and Allan Crew (E, USA) each mastered their own version of sustained suffering. On the women’s side, climbing excellence belonged to Mona Kangasniemi (C, Finland) and Jess Galatro (D, USA), riders who know exactly how to stay calm when the gradient bites. The question now is simple—and tantalising: will they be back to defend their titles?
The answer may depend on how riders adapt to the 2025/26 Climb Championship, which takes on an entirely new personality. Stay Put Pursuit in New York will be the longest climb stage in Championship history at 31.8 km. Unlike the steep, selective climbs of previous years, this route favours punchy riders with repeatable power rather than classic pure climbers. It’s a slow burn, not a knockout blow and that changes everything.
From a coaching perspective, the blueprint is clear. Ride your numbers: stay just below threshold in the opening phases, because the riders who blow are the ones who chase too soon. Smooth over savage is the rule: keep cadence steady and avoid surging unless you’re responding to a genuine GC threat. Mentally, the best performers will use chunking, breaking the climb into manageable segments and focusing only on the next wheel ahead. The winning mindset is unmistakable: controlled suffering. This is where resilience beats bravado.
From Road to Sky, to Radio Rendezvous, and now the punchy test of Stay Put Pursuit, the Climb Championship continues to evolve but its purpose remains the same. This is where strength meets patience, where titles are defended or lost, and where SISU truly shows.