by Freya Taylor
Following on from promising performances in the hill climbs and track early in the year, the CUCC women hit their stride with the time trials and road races later in the year.
First up was the team time trial, held near Bath at Castle Combe circuit. For the first time, CUCC fielded 3 womens’ teams, more than any other university. Our womens’ 1st team of Sannah, Tegan and Freya T stormed to a bronze medal against fierce competition. The womens’ second and third teams both performed admirably, beating multiple universities’ first teams to set impressive times.
The annual 25 mile time trial, held on home roads was also a success for Cambridge women. Flo Studdert-Kennedy, after a switch from her usual mountain bike set up, took a brilliant bronze in the road bike category in 1:13. In the TT category, Freya T (8th), Freya S (13th), Nina (14th), Susanne (16th), and Tegan (19th) rounded out a solid set of results on the day. The 10 mile time trial followed, again bringing more medals for CUCC women. Lottie Gill, in 25:33, was awarded a gold medal in the road bike category, while Lucy and Freya T together took bronze in the women’s TT team category.
The final BUCS events of the year were the crit and the road race. Our only competitor in the crit was Lucy, who faced a long and flat race down in Devon, walking away with a very respectable 5th place. Her form continued into the road race the next day, where she and Freya T faced an attritional circuit and, despite some drama, took 6th and 12th respectively.