Fred Whitton Challenge | 180km
Hilly. Pacing matters more than power here.
- Climbing
- 3,500 m
- Per km
- 19.5 m
- At 5%+
- 6%
- High point
- 436 m
- under -3%21.2 km
- -3 to 1%113.1 km
- 1 to 3%19.1 km
- 3 to 5%15 km
- 5 to 8%5.5 km
- 8 to 12%5.6 km
- 12%+0.4 km
| From | Length | Gain | Avg | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| km 66.5 | 2.4 km | 199 m | 8.2% | 9.9% |
| km 147.4 | 3.6 km | 236 m | 6.6% | 12.9% |
| km 86.7 | 3.7 km | 228 m | 6.2% | 10.9% |
| km 12.8 | 5.2 km | 256 m | 4.9% | 9.7% |
| km 74.2 | 3.7 km | 208 m | 5.7% | 8.8% |
Climbs measured from the route file, not the race blurb. The profile carries a point roughly every 1.2 km, so a short ramp inside a climb reads smoother here than it does under your wheels, and each climb’s gain is a floor rather than a total.
- 2027Updated
2027 edition announced — May 9, 2027. Registration opens later.
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The Fred Whitton Challenge is widely regarded as the toughest one-day sportive in Britain, routing 180 km through the Lake District across 18 categorised climbs with over 3,500 m of elevation. The route's brutal finale — Wrynose Pass followed immediately by Hardknott Pass (30% ramps) at mile 99 — breaks riders who have saved nothing in reserve. Running since 1999 in memory of cycling advocate Fred Whitton, it remains one of the most coveted entries in UK sportive cycling.