Total Women's Cycling

Hannah Barnes is a young British road and track cyclist. Born on May 4 1993 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, she moved with her family to Bladon in Oxfordshire, where her father farmed on the Blenheim Estate. Both of her parents raced in 24 hour endurance mountain bike events, something she credits as having sparked her passion for cycling.

The family then moved to Towcester, near the Silverstone circuit, where at 10-years-old she joined Milton Keyne’s Team Keyne and began to compete in and win national events. She still counts her first trophy from a national series event in Sunderland as her most cherished prize. At 13 she was spotted by the British Cycling Talent Team and moved to join the more track-based Palmer Park Velo in Reading.

At under-14 level Barnes won the omnium title at the national championships, a trophy won the previous year by Laura Trott, who went on to take gold in the event at London 2012. Barnes continued to win trophies at under-16 as well as the junior British National Time Trial Championships. Still as a junior, she won the British National Circuit Race Championships at senior level in 2010 and 2011. She won the event again in 2013.

Barnes has been riding for professional teams since 2008, including Node 4 – Giordana Racing, Motorpoint, Team Ibis and MG Maxifuel. She was involved in controversy at the finish of the Elite Women’s Criterium at the London Nocturne in 2013 when she was demoted to second place behind Laura Trott for celebrating her win too close to other cyclists. The decision was later overturned.