Lloyds Bank British Cycling Dual Slalom National Championships 2026 – Malverns
After the huge success of the 2025 Championships, the Dual Slalom National Championships were back! Held at The Malverns Classic Festival once again, this head to head format of Mountain Biking would wow crowds on Friday.
With National Champion Jerseys up for grabs in the Championship categories, this MTB festival that is normally about good times, fun and music would turn very serious for about 25 seconds per run!
The Track:
The great thing with Dual Slalom is that you can do it anywhere! The Malverns Classic literally proved this! A grass field became a race track with a few carefully placed flag poles! A 2 rider start gate would set riders off into 12 corners for both the red and blue lanes. Riders would get a run in each lane, times added together and the winner would move on to the next round until the winners were crowned.
A week earlier, Scott had been asked by the Malverns Classic organisers to create the Dual Slalom track. He had made it fast and flowing, utilising the whole hillside and hopefully making racing close.
Practice:
Scott looked fast right from his first practice run. He initially opted for Schwalbe Magic Mary dry tyres, but then changed to Dirty Dan Spike tyres – normally reserved for mud races, but on this occasion would bite into the dry grass hillside.
Qualifying:
Qualifying started at 11.00. A mash up format for 2 hours where riders could take as many goes as they wanted to determine the qualifying order and calculate the brackets for racing later.
Scott got into the gate and ready to go. He made a customary great start and powered along the start straight. He rode a perfect lap and would cross the finish line with a time that would ultimately place him second in qualifying.
Kockout stages:
Scott rode well in his first couple of rounds , moving through the quarter finals into the final 4.
In the semi final, Scott again put the hammer down in the blue lane, but a small slide in the final turn meant he crossed the line 1.1 seconds ahead. In his second run he just needed to keep tabs on the other rider to control the race. The gate dropped and Scott rode a great lap, taking the win and into the final.
Final:
In the first race, Scott was in the blue lane to start. The gate dropped and Scott was able to race a clean lap, taking a good advantage into the second run.
In the second round, Scott showed his vast experience and simply took the lead on the first straight, then held the advantage all the way, keeping it smooth and in controlled. Scott was able to take the win and the overall title to retain his Dual Slalom National Championship.
“That was such an amazing day of racing. I am stoked to have taken the win. Huge thank you to Schwalbe for their help today. We continued to switch tyres through the day seeking the perfect grip. This result is owed to them as I was able to push so hard in the last few races there. It never gets old and I am stoked to be National Champion again. It’s 4X National Championships on Sunday to focus on now!” Said Beaumont in the finish area.
After an incredible year, winning British Cycling National Championships is incredible for Scott. Continuing to win at the highest levels is incredibly hard and Scott continues to take it in his stride. We couldn’t be more proud.
A huge thanks to The Malverns Classic and British Cycling for organising this incredible event.
Thank you to all the riders, medics, commentators, officials, commissaires, marshals, family and friends who attended this race. You made it a great day in a grass field!
