Cambridge University Cycling Club (CUCC) have had an incredibly successful few weeks. Their women’s team won the BUCS Team Time Trial and their Varsity match against Oxford, and their men’s team finished third in the country in the 25 mile Time Trial.

After competing at the BUCS Track Cycling competition in Wales over the weekend of the 11-12th March, CUCC entered five teams into the BUCS three up Time Trial competition a week later. This event sees teams enter three riders, who aim to complete the 35km course as quickly as possible. They were incredibly successful at this competition, taking first and second place in the women’s team event and also taking the overall team victory. The fastest Cambridge men’s team of Joe Adlam-Cook, Harry Weedon and Tom Wade suffered heartbreak, missing out on the podium by a single second to a trio of riders from Loughborough University. The second Cambridge trio across the line also made the top ten, as Matt Rizzo-Naudi, Jacob Lewis and Luke Andrews rolled across the line in eighth place. Moreover, all three Cambridge men’s teams made the top 20, as the third Cambridge squad of Lucas Beghein, Matt Davison and Tim Bodey finished in 17th place.

In the women’s event, the two Cambridge teams finished first and second, seeing off stiff competition from Loughborough and Oxford. The winners of the race were Phoebe Barker, Imogen Grant and Jo Matthews, who completed the course in a rapid time of 56:48, over a minute faster than anyone else. In second place, Miranda Clements, Zoe Burrell and Maddie Angwin finished in 58:01 to comfortably eclipse the times of both Loughborough’s squads.

CUCC followed this by sending a large squad to the BUCS25 event on the 26th March, which was also doubling up as this year’s Varsity match against Oxford. 26 Cambridge riders were mere blurs in Light Blue as the team saw lots of success on home turf. This race was a 25 mile time trial around the village of Stetchworth and the surrounding area in East Cambridgeshire. Jo Matthews came third in the women’s individual race, and her teammate Miranda Clements finished just three seconds slower to finish fourth and ensure that Cambridge finished second in the women’s team competition, behind champions Oxford.

However, Varsity is decided on the basis of the fastest three riders rather than the two used for BUCS classification. Therefore, an excellent ride from Imogen Grant (who is usually a rower, albeit a world championship winning one) meant that the women’s team won Varsity for the first time in nine years. The men’s team also reached the podium, as top ten finishes from Joe Adlam-Cook, Tom Wade and Tim Welsh were enough to give CUCC well deserved bronze medals, if not Varsity victory.