The Annual CUCC Training Camp Round-up

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by Will Lowden

Altea and Cap Negret, looking toward the Mediterranean

January is oft remembered as that dreary month proceeding Christmas, when the festive memories of wine and mince pies fade into obscurity behind the grey pall of a brooding British sky. Whilst most opt for hibernation and prepare for the slow trudge toward spring, CUCC riders know that the best way to tackle this glorious mire of sleet sludge and snow is to beat a hasty retreat to sunny Spain.
And so, it was here in the Spanish sanctuary of Calpe – A destination known for its sunshine and warmth – that the Annual 2026 training camp was held for a week of cycling in glorious rain and 5 degrees of…. Oh wait, surely this can’t be right? 
Despite the 2000 mile quest for sunshine, the rain clouds followed our brave cyclists like Gollum to the one ring. Upon arrival in Calpe, the forecast looked bleak with rain predicted over the next two days. But the [ever optimistic] CUCC spirit prevailed and, arming themselves with the most favourable weather report available, our riders set out the next day for a Sunday spin on *mostly* dry roads. 
Apparently, Monday’s weather didn’t get the sunshine memo, and the ensuing rivers of roads discouraged even the hardiest of cyclists. Having decided that four hours on a gym bike “wasn’t it”, and with the weather looking promising for the next few days, an early rest day ensued providing the opportunity to explore all the wonders that an off-peak seaside town has to offer.
Tuesday dawned bright and sunny and, with the rain clouds receding, our riders headed out in three guided groups to explore the spectacular roads that Calpe has to offer. The famous climb of the Col du Rates was tackled in a cool sub-15 minute by our very own Nathan and Issac, before a rapid descent down Tarbena, followed by an evening Spa session and music bingo with Jamie MaxenTM. Despite the earlier rain, things were looking up!

The classic CUCC Training Camp picture, taken at the top of the Col du Rates.

Wednesday and Thursday remained chilly, but the sun was out and so it was time to get high. The climbs of Val d’Ebo and Tudons were ticked off in quick succession, and despite the slippery descents, there were [absolutely no] crashes thanks to the confidence inspiring ‘ultra-grip’ tires of the hire bikes. Word of Lennart’s gravel bike had clearly reached the Comunitat Valenciana, which laid on a special treat by liberally salting the roads, much to the benefit of everyone’s electrolyte balance and bike maintenance schedule. Post-ride, the Evening’s entertainment was sorted in the form of a ‘profiterole eating competition’ from the hotel buffet. An initial lead of 48 from Alex seemed unassailable, were it not for the unstoppable force that is Jamie MaxenTM. Both athletes pushed each other to a draw at an incredible 50 profiteroles each – A new Training Camp record! To round off the evening’s extravaganza, a nighttime Karaoke session was held, featuring The Eagles, Slim shady, and a special post-modernist rendition of the song ‘Firework’, featuring a unique and flexible approach to melody.

Live action shot ft.  Jamie Maxen taking on the Profiterole challenge. Louis looks on with a mixture of awe and wonder at the athletic feat taking place before him… 

The final day of riding promised a sunny and pleasant 18 degrees. This is, according to Freya, the optimum conditions for a coastal bimble and a café stop. But not everyone agreed with this outlook, and those not yet considered cracked enough planned a 210 km ride to really drive the boot home. And so it was that eleven brave CUCClings set out at 8 a.m. for the coastal roads of Dénia. The stiff headwind on the way out was made more bearable by Will’s Zone 2 obsession, ensuring the group’s pace remained steady as the kilometres ticked by. On reaching Gandia, the group split, with most opting for a sensibly paced return. Fuelled by profiteroles and a desire to send it (not to mention a looming hire-bike deadline) Alex and Ilya joined the ‘supercruise’ group, taking full advantage of the tailwind to fly back along the flat coastal roads to Calpe, with a cheeky ascent of Rates thrown in for good measure. After the hottest day of the week so far, the only fitting conclusion to a long ride was a dip in the hotel pool. Apparently, some penguins had managed to access the pool heating controls, resulting in positively glacial conditions, though this did little to prevent Kat from spending an impressive amount of time swimming in it.

Sunshine and smiles on the Val d’Ebo. I can clearly see the love that Jake has for his fancy new hire bike… 

Following an evening on the beach featuring the annual awards and a guest appearance from Borat (at no extra charge), the training camp was wrapped up. Our riders departed for Alicante airport with bikes packed, collarbones intact, and passports not left at the hotel, to return to their respective homes. And so, as Lent term begins once again here in Cambridge, all that remains is to say a heartfelt thanks to Evan, the president of CUCC, and to Frankie and Russel at Ciclo magic for organising an amazing trip, as well as to everyone who attended, for making training camp once again a: 

‘Great success!’ 

W L

A group of CUCClings (?) assemble at the top of the Tudons climb. Don’t be fooled by the sun, its cold!
Pre-flight watts at Alicante. The geometry wasn’t quite optimal for performance…

A history women’s competitive cycling at CUCC

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by Helen Hatcher

When I joined CUCC in the 1990s there were very few women and even less of us were interested in competing. I had come from Scotland where I had even ridden with Sir Chris Hoy in a club and was keen to raise the profile of women in cycling in Cambridge. I set about starting to ride with others and to find out if we could get a group of women trained to do time trial and team trial events. Often, we rode around roads that will be familiar with those in the club near six mile bottom and over to Shelford and Newton. Sometimes, we rode with the men, especially learning the chain gang techniques. Our bikes were old steel with the odd luxury aluminium and only the fastest men had access to the glory carbon. The club, as ever, was very social and the men supported us to compete in Varsity matches and for some of us in BUSA (now known as BUCS) and national events. The men let us join them for team time trial training by Orwell and we joined in the yearly hill climb and roll down challenges at Barrington hill. Some of us also branched out into mountain biking and triathlon, collecting more members along the way. By 1996 we had an established Varsity team who had trained and competed in some team time trial events as well. A few of us competed in the National 10, 25 and 50 milers as well as some team trial events and obviously the individual time trials around the region.

Helen and the team

Our 4-Up time, from the 1997 BUSA national 50 km championship, still stands as the women’s record. This is something of a miracle as I had been up all night the night before delivering a baby on my maternity attachment and fell asleep briefly but was woken as my wheel hit the verge and the adrenaline probably powered all of us for the rest of the event! The team are pictured in the photo of the four of us. We had an international team with members from New Zealand, Chris Couldrey, who still rides joined in 1996, and Nicolle Laviolette from Canada joined in 1998. I represented CUCC as the Captain of the Team from 1996 and had the sport accepted as a Blues event given years of Varsity and high performances nationally. Two of us (Helen Clark and Nicolle Laviolette) came 3rd nationally in the 2Up in 1998 beating the Oxford crew. Helen also came in the top 5 in the National series of 10/25/50 time trials in 1997 and 1998.  Many of us continued in cycling and represented other clubs or the country. I was lucky to compete in the world Ironman Championships in Hawaii in 2008 for the hottest time trial (over 40 degrees Celsius) I have ever completed where I met the amazing athlete and fellow CUCC rider from years later, Lucy Gossage, a triathlon and ultra legend. I am still cycling in all forms from road to MTB and triathlon and the love of riding a bike with friends never leaves you. It’s a great sport and it’s good to see how many more people are involved both men and women. I hope the club continues to grow, enjoy all forms of riding and compete for those who enjoy it.

1998 BUSA 10 mile TT results

Women’s Racing 2024-25 Roundup

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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.

Men’s TT and RR 2024-25 Roundup

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by Tom Hale

It was a crisp Sunday morning in March; there was a strong breeze and sapphire sky over Castle Combe race circuit. The rapturous beauty of the landscape was abruptly shattered, however, by the arrival of two CUCC extra-long wheelbase vans, two cars, and Will Dad’s Land Rover. After long deliberations on tactics followed by a brisk recce of the circuit, the men’s first team (Will Lowden, Tom Hale, and Mantas Baksys) were off. With Loughborough’s coach and his iPad cheering them on (or maybe he was timing them… we’ll never know), the boys set a blisteringly fast first three laps. However, like RAAC concrete, the cracks soon began to appear. The carefully drafted (pardon the pun) plan of action was soon out the window, or more accurately, blown away by the crosswinds. Could they hang on to a podium finish? The answer, ultimately no: only a minute separated the top four teams with the CUCCs at the frustrating end of this, only 5 seconds off third. However, the second (Sam Kimber, Cobi Allen, and Arthur Morris) and third (Jamie Maxen, Evan Burgess, and Sam Fitzgerald) teams both put in big shifts to secure three CUCC spots in the top 10, which even Jamie’s rubbing rear wheel could not prevent.

The Rumble in the Jungle, the Lionesses Euros Final, Greg LeMond. Everyone loves a good comeback story. Would Sunday 6th April be the day that the four spectators on the side of the A1304 witness another inductee into this catalogue of epic resurgences? Could the CUCCs bounce back from their agonising fourth place at BUCS TTT and take on the giants of Loughborough, Nottingham, and Oxford in the BUCS 25 mile TT? Everything looked golden when CUCC’s Will Lowden caught his minute man and avid BUCS medal collector Matt Coulson on the first lap. Indeed, Will’s seriously impressive 49:57 was enough to win individual gold by well over a minute! Tom Hale and Mantas Baksys made up the rest of the CUCC first team, separated by only 1 second on the day. This was enough for CUCC to bag team silver, beaten only by Oxford who therefore took home the men’s Varsity trophy. The CUCCs, however, were not finished yet… Having heard rumours that BUCS now do a road bike category, George Spooner had been allured back to Cambridge for a PhD. The many late evenings in the lab were not for nothing – George out-aero’d the rest of the field to deservedly win gold, with Ben Proctor putting in a shift for bronze.

History has a funny way of repeating itself; this time, we only had to wait three weeks. BUCS 10 mile TT panned out in much the same way as BUCS 25 (minus the car crash). Like a lion and its prey, nothing could get between Will and his individual gold medal, not even the horse on the course. After a last-minute realisation that having a GatorSkin counteracts the aero benefit of the club disc wheel, Tom Hale and Evan Burgess completed the rest of the team who took home the team silver. El Presidente, with his CDA of a 50p coin, capped off the day by powering to silver in the road bike category.

Sad that the BUCS TT season was now over and he’d now be forced to ride a road bike, Will began preparations for the BUCS Road Race weekend by modifying his Boardman TT bike until it would just about pass as a road bike. The AirBnB was booked, chains and legs waxed, and Di2 uncharged. A five-hour drive later, the team were in Devon staring longingly at the inviting waters of the hotel swimming pool, their stomachs full of Will’s mum’s delicious homemade bolognaise. Before they could even dip their toes in, however, there was business to do. First on the agenda, the crit. With three riders up the road in an early break at RNAS Merryfield, there were several attacks out of the bunch, but nothing would stick until Jamie snuck away in the last lap to bag fourth. Just behind, George secured the bunch sprint W for sixth.

A long sleep and obscene amount of food later, the boys were back on the start line for the road race. The first few kilometres were nervy and saw several casualties, including Will and Tom’s aero water bottles, Will’s bike computer, and a rider from Bath, to whom we wish all the best. Will soon found himself in the 8-man breakaway but just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared: a dropped chain (and no, he wasn’t riding SRAM, there were just that many potholes). Back in the bunch Will found his four fellow CUCCs, but not for long … an unlucky puncture and dropped chain at the start of the second and final lap reduced Cobi and Jamie to the grupetto. With CUCC’s hopes now resting on the shoulders of Will, George, and Tom, could they pull off a miracle? For a few minutes, they were allowed to hope; Tom had made it into a chasing group of three with 15 km to go. Cramp – 6 km out. It was now George’s turn to give it a whack … and whack it he did. Riding away from the bunch on the final uphill, George secured the final top 10 spot remaining after the break and two-man chase, with Will just behind in 15th.

Altogether then, 2024-25 was a season CUCC can be proud of, not just because of the medals won (let’s forget about BUCS track): the depth of participation, type 2 fun, and banter on the roadside mean it most certainly does not suck to CUCC.

Hill Climbs and Track 2025

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By Sannah Zaman

CUCC dived straight into a very busy season with two hill climbs in 2 weeks – the Oxford Hill Climb and BUCS Hill Climb. On the steady but long Wytham Hill in Oxford, Jamie Maxen soared to 3rd place in very rainy conditions. He was closely followed by Dan Taylor in 4th and Ben Proctor in 6th. In the women’s race, all three CUCC entries occupied the top 10 with Sannah Zaman in 3rd, Freya Taylor in 6th and Nina Haket in 9th. As per annual custom we ended the day in the pub for some pizza. A large amount of time was spent debating whether we should mingle with Oxford, eventually settling on delaying it to next year.  

The CUCC BUCS hill climb 2024 team

Next up was BUCS Hill Climb in Leicester. There was plenty of rain and very cold temperatures but this did not deter our Sam Fitzgerald who powered through the day in shorts (someone please get this man a pair of leg warmers). Again, Jamie Maxen was our top finisher in the open category clocking a very impressive time of 02.32.71 up Terrace Hill. The guys narrowly missed out on 3rd team by just over a second, but strong performances were seen all round with Ewan Collar, Tom Hale, Harry Fieldhouse and Ben Proctor all in the top 20 against a very stacked field. The women’s race then followed and our small but mighty team of Mieke Kalmijin and Sannah Zaman secured 4th place in the team category with Sannah in 2nd. 

BUCS HC Podium

With the hill climb season coming to a close, it was time for some track racing. A mid-term CUCC adventure to Herne Hill Track was one of the highlights of Michaelmas. For many it was a first experience on the track and everyone was able to get stuck into some races by the end of the session. This then led us to BUCS track where our team of 9 trained tirelessly for a grand total of 4 hours in Derby track in preparation. On the women’s side we had Tegan Tedder, Susi Bosman, Freya Taylor (local Derby hero), and Sannah Zaman. Heading up the men’s team we had Arthur Morris, Tom Hale, Cobi Allen, Felix Baker (who doubled up as our expert mechanic) and Jamie Maxen. 

Sannah on the front in the points race

After a few team pursuit trials, several tube changes and only one crash, we headed to Derby. Arthur was our first rider on the track, competing in the open kilo with Tom Hale as DS. Arthur flew around the 4 laps of the track so quickly it was that all anyone saw was a light blue blur. The next morning,we had Freya Taylor racing the Individual Pursuit. She rode into a stunning 8th place with her Derbyshire fanbase cheering from the stands. Next we had the men’s Team Pursuit. Despite the convention of riding the TP together, the boys decided to ride separately on track, breaking the mold with their original tactics. After getting in some solo practice in the TP, Tom Hale was ready to race the open Individual Pursuit. Looking super aero and rumored to hit almost 200W, Tom soared into aseriously impressive 8th against some very experienced track riders. In the women’s Team Pursuit we had Susi, Tegan, Freya and Sannah. Susi was our starting rider and she shot off like a rocket out of the blocks. After 2 very strong laps by Susi, the remaining 3 rode smoothly with consistent lap times (and most importantly did not take each other out).

Men’s BUCS track team pursuit

The bunch races were taken on by Cobi, Jamie, Tegan and Sannah and they were certainly eventful. Cobi put in solid performances in the very chaotic points and elimination races. Jamie rode a very smart elimination race but bad luck took him out prematurely as the wheel of the rider in front of him exploded mid race. Tegan demonstrated her well refined track skills and race intelligence in a very tough women’s elimination race. She finished ahead of many fast riders showing her strength on the track. Sannah raced the points race blind after losing her contacts 4 laps in. Unsure what was going on, she rode near the front and then proceeded to get rolled on every sprint lap. Overall, it was a successful weekend and no one fell off. Big thanks to Freyas mum for cooking amazing food and letting us stay at her house!

Women’s Team Pursuit

BUCS and Varsity Hill Climbs 2024

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By Sannah Zaman

VARSITY HILL CLIMB

The 2024 Oxford Hill Climb took place on the 20th of October. We arrived bright an early to a very rainy and cold Wytham Hill, just over a kilometre in length. We had a large team of 14 competing and all CUCC hill climbers set very impressive times despite the adverse conditions! Jamie Maxen took a strong 3rd place in the open category with a time of 03.42.6 closely followed by Dan Taylor in 4th and Ben Proctor in 6th. A solid performance from the women saw all 3 in the top ten with Sannah Zaman in 3rd, Freya Taylor in 6th and Nina Haket in 9th. Unfortunately, Oxford just pipped us for the overall win but the competition was very close. I guess it was nice for them to see their trophies again after a year of being under CUCC care… Preparation has already begun to regain our title in 2025! After filling our legs with lactic acid we went into Oxford centre to fill our stomachs with pizza and beer to round off a fun day out.

Varsity HC squad on a rainy day in Oxford

BUCS HILL CLIMB

The 2024 BUCS Hill Climb took Place in Leicester on the 2nd of November. The course took us up Terrace Hill, a 1.1km effort with 79m of elevation – mountainous for us Cambridge residents who are well acquainted with the flatlands of the fens. Another very early start alongside lots of rain and very cold temperatures still did not dampen the spirits of the CUCC squad. Tom Hale was the first off for Cambridge setting a rapid time despite the freezing conditions. Jamie Maxen was our top finisher in the open category with an impressive result of 6th and a time of 02.32.71. The guys narrowly missed out on 3rd team by just over a second, but strong performances were seen all round with Ewan Collar, Tom Hale, Harry Fieldhouse and Ben Proctor all in the top 20 (and all within 3 seconds of each other!) proving their hill climb prowess in a very stacked field. After a short break, the women were off. Special shoutout to Sam Fitzgerald for playing the imperial march and other (motivational?) songs for the competitors as they passed. But most importantly the biggest cheers definitely came from CUCC who provided the best support. As a result of being chased up the steepest part of the climb by very loud CUCCers Sannah Zaman placed 2nd in the Female category with a time of 03.09.83 (0.5 seconds off 1st!). Mieke Kalmijin also finished very strongly putting the women’s team in 4th overall. Huge efforts were put in all round from CUCC and we were rewarded by a successful day out and muddy bikes with no bottle cages for Sunday’s club ride.

Women’s podium of BUCS HC featuring our own Sannah Zaman
BUCS hill clomb 2024 squad

BUCS 10 2024

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By Matt Davison

The 2024 BUCS 10 mile TT was rescheduled to the 8th of June, after the original event was cancelled last minute due to heavy rain. The CUCC squad took a second trip up to Nottingham, on what promised to be a much nicer day. This involved the standard faff, including pre-race swapping of brake calipers and a pinched latex tube. The wind was less favourable than 2023 resulting in a hard TT to pace: a fast outward leg and a hard uphill headwind for the last few km.

The women were off first, perfectly coinciding with an unexpected rain storm. Despite this, Freya Taylor set a strong time of 24:32, Lucy Havard 23:39, and Maddie Angwin set a very impressive 23:06 for third place. This was enough for Maddie and Lucy to secure second in the team competition.

Then came the men. The early starters still got a bit wet, but the weather cleared up towards the end. The team of Tom Wade (21:26), Joe Adlam-Cook (21:14), and Matt Rizzo-Naudi (20:31), got second in the overall team prize, and Matt Rizzo-Naudi came third overall.

A successful day out for the club, and great to see Matt and Maddie’s dedication to time trailing pay off. (Has Matt had an aero-fit? Will Maddie ever give back her coach’s aero helmet? Who knows). Full results here.

The BUCS 10 squad

BUCS Road Race 2024

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by Will Lowden

The 2024 British Universities Road Race Championships took place in South Yorkshire on Sunday the 19th of May, with racing held around the Upper Denby circuit; an 8.3-mile loop with and undulating parcours involving 190m of elevation per lap, 140m of which was undertaken in a single climb. [Insert joke about Cambridge being flat]

With the women’s racing starting early, a strong gang of 9 CUCCers set out the Saturday afternoon before the race, wending their way northward toward Shefield to stay the night in a rather classy Airbnb (Thank you Lucy), located around a 30-minute drive from the race HQ. The evening meal involved the traditional carb loading of pasta, followed soon after by classic bedtime activities, such as; comparing cassette sizes, tasting your friend’s carb drink mix, and musical renditions of Northern classics, including ‘Hendos, ‘Oyl int road’ and ‘No oven no pie’.

The CUCC 2024 BUCS Road Race team, with (left to right): Joe AC, Phoebe Barker, Sannah Zaman, Tom Hale, Will Lowden, Matt Rizzo, Lucy Havard, and Tom Wade.

The day of the race dawned bright and sunny and, with breakfast at 6:30, our female racers (and Will) set off at 7 to the race HQ for the women’s race roll-out at 9. Bravely, the men decided to lie in till later. Navigation appeared to be the first university challenge of the day with which to test the brains of Cambridge, with Sannah and Lucy initially driving to the previous year’s race HQ. Thankfully, the second team of Phoebe and Will passed the test – it turns out that vet placements are also handy for learning how to use google maps!

Phoebe Barker in the zone before the women’s race roll out or, perhaps looking about, trying to find Lucy and Sannah after their little trip to Harrogate? Either way, I love the matching colour scheme.

At 9am, the Women’s 26 rider strong peloton rolled out and, facing 6.5 laps (90km) of the challenging Denby circuit in the heat, the racing started conservatively. Over the next 4 laps, the peloton was slowly thinned out however, all the Cambridge racers remained in the mix. With 2 laps to go, Jessett (Loughborough) and Bond (Shefield) attacked, breaking clear of the main group. A chase ensued, and the resultant hot pace set simmered the bunch down to just 12, with strong riding from Phoebe, Sannah and Lucy ensuring they made the cut. Over the course of the next lap, the breakaway lead climbed to 1.5 minutes and with such a margin, the positions of first and second seemed unassailable; it was now a race for third place. The final kilometre of the circuit involved a cheeky kick to the line, averaging 5% in the final 300m. Phoebe put in an excellent final effort, providing a lead-out for Sannah prior to the final sprint for the line and, after a fast and exhilarating sprint, the CUCC results consisted of 4th place for Sannah, followed by 13th for Phoebe and 14th for Lucy. Great results all round and special a congrats to Phoebe for smashing her first road race! However, the celebrations would have to wait as it was now the turn of the CUCC men to race…

The men’s race took place on the same circuit, this time tackling 9.5 laps (133km) and involving a larger bunch, at 78 riders. Following the roll-out at 2pm, with almost 2000m of climbing on the cards, the racing obviously started conservatively at full gas from the flag, with riders jostling for position before the first 90-degree bend into a 13% kicker. Sensibly, most CUCC riders remained within the relative calm of the fold except for Will, who decided to control the race from the front. Two riders attempted to ride clear, but this was not helpful to ‘l’objectif’ and was quickly closed down. The pace remained high at >45kph for the next 15 kilometres, before a break formed off the front, consisting of five riders including Lowden. The quintet worked well together and by half a lap, had established a gap of 30 seconds, eventually rising to over 3 minutes by lap 5. Meanwhile in the peloton behind, the atmosphere was as tense as a brewing summer storm cloud and, with pacing as mercurial as the air masses which encompass those towering colossus, many riders were inevitably caught out in the emerging splits. With the pace in the peloton remaining high, it was a curious choice of time indeed for Joe ‘tubular’ AC to test his tyres against a pothole. The pothole won.

The sun was out, the pace was high, and the racing was infernal… but that wasn’t the only thing that was hot.

After lap six, four riders launched an attack off the front of the peloton, attempting to bridge to the group of (now four) riders further up the road, reducing the deficit to just 30 seconds by the bell. With 3 km to go, the two groups merged, and an attack was launched up the final climb by Hurdle, with Morgan, Smith, and Lowden quick to join. The finishing 500m came down to a four-way battle, with Smith launching an early sprint, followed by Morgan, who came around to claim the win, leaving Smith second and Lowden third. The racing behind continued, with the peloton now divided into multiple gruppettos strung out along the course; mulppettos, if you will. Both Matt Rizzo and Joe AC put on a solid show, placing 12th and 15th respectively and Tom Wade pulled out all the stops to finish just inside the time cut in 31st. Unfortunately, both Tom Hale and Craig were caught the wrong side of the split, resulting in a ride on the broom waggon.

Matt Rizzo dropping the watts.

All in all, a successful weekend away racing, leaving the woes of exam season behind. Much fun was had by all, despite the hard racing, and the team came away raring to go for the summer of racing ahead!

The full results for the BUCS 2024 road race championships are available here

BUCS Team Time Trial 2024

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by Will Lowden

The 2024 British Universities Team Time Trial Championships took place in Wiltshire, on the 10th of March, with racing held over 13.5 laps (40.5km) of the Castle Coombe motor racing circuit; a 3km loop with smooth tarmac and 17m elevation gain per lap.

With racing starting from 13:30, the meeting time at the University sports centre was somewhat civilised and negated the usual bleary-eyed morning start synonymous with most BUCS events. The three-hour drive westward proved uneventful, and even the grey palled drape of a sky, failed to put a dampener on the [ever optimistic] CUCC spirit. But miracles do come true, and the day at Castle Coombe, whilst not sunny, proved to be dry and still, despite the rather wet and windy weather to be found everywhere else.

The CUCC BUCS TTT men’s 1st team, with (left to right): Joe AC, Matt Rizzo, and Will Lowden

Upon arrival, the six-team strong CUCC squad unloaded the van and set up an organised base of operations, with bikes, turbos and wheel bags quickly sprinkled liberally around the area, rather like sheep speckling a distant Exmoor landscape. Having sorted out wheels and other paraphernalia (we all know the best time to test equipment is just before a race), the teams began their warmups before making their way to the start gate for the allotted race time. First up was the CUCC women’s team, consisting of Sannah, Phoebe and Maddie. Having braved rain and wind in previous weeks to practice for the TTT, the women put in an excellent performance of power and teamwork, alongside a show of cosmopolitan sporting skill by Sannah, throwing her helmet mid-race. With aero-a-plenty, thanks to Maddie’s rapid Boardman and Phoebe’s fancy helmet, the women averaged an impressive 40.7 kph, completing the course in 59:19.4 for 5th place. Perhaps next year, we can persuade the organisers to include athletic field events mid-race?

The CUCC women’s TT team in action, with (left to right); Maddie Angwin, Sannah Zaman, and Phoebe Barker.

Following the Women’s race, the CUCC men’s teams were off in quick succession with team 2 (Tom Hale, Tom Wade and Francis) stopping the clock at 51:42.6 for 9th, team 3 (Mantas, Harry and Ben) at 55:03.1 for 17th, followed closely in by team 4 (Lucas, Josh and Janik) at 55:44.4 for 18th, and team 5 (Mattis, Ilya and Matt) at 59:04.9 for 24th.

Finally, it was the turn of the Cambridge men’s 1st team. The pacing started conservatively, the aim being to ride a negative split, with the speed increasing steadily throughout the race. Minute turns were taken on the front with consistently smooth pulls and changes from all, and as the lap counter climbed, so did the pace. With two laps to go, the throttle was wide open, and the afterburners ignited, with Lowden driving it on the front for the final few laps. Averaging 50.1 kph, the clock stopped at 48:11.8 which placed second overall, at just 10 seconds off Loughborough’s winning time.

The solid performance of the women meant that CUCC also placed 2nd in the combined competition and the great performances by everyone a testament to the hard work put in training, in the weeks preceding the event. Overall, a successful day out all-round!

Full results for the BUCS 2024 team time trial championships are available here

‘Great Success!’

CUPPERS 2024

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By Matt Davison

Botty 10, 1pm, a Saturday in early March, what else could it be but cuppers? The weather had looked miserable all week, with rain and strong winds forecast, and the unlucky riders in the first half of the race had to endure a hailstorm. This, however, had mostly cleared by the second half of the race leaving only a bit of a crosswind.

With the keen racers safely away in Newport for BUCS track, so once everyone made it to the start line (In classic CUCC fashion about 1/3 of riders missed their starts…) cuppers was anyone’s race for the taking. This lead to some very strong performances across the board (full results here here). Lucas Beghein took the men’s TT bike category, sneaking under 23 minutes with a 22:58. Maddie Angwin carried on her winning streak from Ely Hardriders, winning the women’s race despite a missed start in 26:28. The road bike categories were won by Francis Schofield (also on a post-Ely winning spree) in 23:39, and Freya Taylor, on her TT debut, in 31:33.

Lucas Beghein on his way to victory, photo thanks to Nordin Catic

Inspired by the new CTT road bike category, the scoring system was adjusted for this year. The fastest rider in each category, road and TT bike, for open and female, was awarded 8 points, then 7 points were awarded for the next rider, decreasing by 1 until a minimum of 1 point was won by every rider that competed.

The overall win was taken by St John’s, with a team of Maddie Angwin, Naomi Jennings and Josh Kershaw. Trinity came in a close second and Kings third.

The Winning John’s Team, and a frankly embarrassing amount of rowing stash.

The day concluded with hot dogs and snacks in the Bottisham village hall, and a slow spin back into town. Thanks to Louis for organising a great event, and on to the rest of the race season! Photos from the day can be found here, with thanks to Nordin Catic.

All competitors and marshals