2025 Banbury Star Cyclists’ Club Road Race: preview and startlist
Banbury Star CC’s women’s classic returns this Sunday (18 May) as round two of the 2025 British Women’s Team Cup. The National B race sends riders over four laps of north-Oxfordshire lanes, each lap capped by the 15 % slopes of The Knowle at Edge Hill - a climb that always tears the race apart. With no UCI Continental heavyweights, the spotlight falls on Britain’s development squads and the series points they crave.
Banbury Star CC’s women’s classic returns this Sunday (18 May) as round two of the 2025 British Women’s Team Cup. The National B race sends riders over four laps of north-Oxfordshire lanes, each lap capped by the 15 % slopes of The Knowle at Edge Hill – a climb that always tears the race apart. With no UCI Continental heavyweights, the spotlight falls on Britain’s development squads and the series points they crave.
Here is our preview.
Featured image: Mark James
What is it?
Banbury Star CC’s spring classic is back: a National B women’s road race that will serve as round two of the 2025 British Women’s Team Cup, the series created to give the women’s domestic peloton the hard-fought calendar it deserves. On Sunday 18 May 2025, squads from up and down the country will descend on Oxfordshire to do battle over Banbury’s lumpy lanes, with the morning’s Regional A open race acting as the curtain-raiser.
The headline act is a course built for grimpeuses. Each lap is crowned by The Knowle at Edgehill – a spiteful ramp that features in Simon Warren’s 100 Greatest Climbs and has tormented the Tour of Britain – ensuring the race is invariably torn to shreds well before the finish. Lucy Harris mastered the gradient last year to take the win; expect her successors to need similarly sharp climbing legs and team nous if they’re to claim all-important Team Cup points.
Route
Four anti-clockwise laps carve a figure of eight through North Oxfordshire’s hill-country, the neutral flag dropping roughly 800 metres north of race HQ in Drayton.
From the gun the bunch barrels along the B4100 Warwick Road, two sweeping descents stringing the peloton before a snap-left onto a sleepy lane that spits them out at the foot of The Knowle, Edge Hill. It is only a kilometre long, yet its 110 vertical metres bite at over 15 per cent in places – a prime vantage point for cow-bell-wielding spectators and a natural launchpad for the day’s first real fireworks.
Crested and gasping, the riders tip into a tempo-friendly false flat and then a gradual downhill towards Ratley. A second left swings them onto the A422 Stratford Road – brief, wide, and usually wind-scoured – before another left dives into Quarry Road’s helter-skelter drop into Horley. The descent ends in a hair-pin left that demands precision on tired arms and crisp brake pads.
A stinging kicker out of the village brings the field either under the chequered flag or back onto Warwick Road to do it all again. Four laps, countless chances to make – or miss – the split.
The Team Cup so far…
At the opening round of the British Team Cup, the Florrie Newbery Classic, Noemie Thomson (Southborough and District Wheelers) took a remarkable solo victory in her first-ever road race.
The British Team Cup is a team competition, however (the clue is in the name), and it was Brother UK – On Form who secured the lead in Round 1, with the Phoenix Collective and Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon also scoring highly to position themselves in second and third respectively.
Pos
Team
Pts
1
Brother UK – On Form
232
2
The Phoenix Collective
161
3
Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon
160
4
FTP (Fulfil The Potential) Racing
132
5
AC O’Shea Development Team
128
6
Wolfox CAMS Le Col RT
111
7
Team Boompods
103
8
London Academy RT
64
9
FTP Fusion
58
10
Raptor Factory Race Team
49
Riders to watch
The startlist lacks big names, but that is the very nature of the British Team Cup – an ideal platform for developing riders to make their mark.
One ofthe youngest riders on this list, Amelia Staunton (Brother UK – On Form)has been punching well above her weight in the senior ranks. Staunton, still a junior, has showed consistent form this season, finishing 5th at the Witham Hall Grand Prix a week after her 6th at the Florrie Newbery Classic. She’s consistently held her own in tough National Road Series rounds too, proving that her age is no barrier to mixing it with the elite. Her teammate Ellen Bennett (Brother UK – On Form) has been steadily building form and results through the spring. She grabbed a storming second place at the Witham Hall Grand Prix earlier this year, indicating her race endurance is on point. She had three National B road race top tens in 2024, so another top result would be no surprise here.
Sian Botteley (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team). Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
An experienced all-rounder, Sian Botteley (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team) is the sole UCI Continental rider in the field. She’s had a quiet 2025 so far, but with her experience and race craft she will be a major contender if she can re-find her form.
A newcomer to racing on open roads in 2025, Grace Sargeant (London Academy) has wasted no time making an impact. In just her first few races, she turned heads by sprinting to 2nd at the Capernwray Road Race – only beaten by a UCI-level rider, Esther Wong. That breakout result on a rolling, gritty course underlined her raw power and race savvy despite limited experience. Her rapid rise and fearless approach mean she could spring a surprise if the race becomes an attritional battle.
Ella Tandy (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) is a second-year junior already making waves against adult competition. Last season she surprised seasoned rivals with her East Midlands & West Midlands Road Race Regional Championships victory. This year she demonstrated her all round versatility with seventh overall at the Witham Hall Junior Open and Junior Womens 2 Day before taking second at the Witham Hall Grand Prix. Light and punchy, with a fast finish, Tandy isn’t overawed by the big names.
Ella Tandy (Tofauti Everyone Active). Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Watch out too for Jennifer Lemen (PDQ Cycle Coaching), whose 8th place last year proved that she’s suited to this circuit, while Jennifer Powell (Performance Development Team) is well-updated to hills terrain, as evidenced by her 9th place at the punchy Ryedale Grand Prix last season.
Banbury Star CC’s women’s classic returns this Sunday (18 May) as round two of the 2025 British Women’s Team Cup. The National B race sends riders over four laps of north-Oxfordshire lanes, each lap capped by the 15 % slopes of The Knowle at Edge Hill – a climb that always tears the race apart. With no UCI Continental heavyweights, the spotlight falls on Britain’s development squads and the series points they crave.
Here is our preview.
Featured image: Mark James
What is it?
Banbury Star CC’s spring classic is back: a National B women’s road race that will serve as round two of the 2025 British Women’s Team Cup, the series created to give the women’s domestic peloton the hard-fought calendar it deserves. On Sunday 18 May 2025, squads from up and down the country will descend on Oxfordshire to do battle over Banbury’s lumpy lanes, with the morning’s Regional A open race acting as the curtain-raiser.
The headline act is a course built for grimpeuses. Each lap is crowned by The Knowle at Edgehill – a spiteful ramp that features in Simon Warren’s 100 Greatest Climbs and has tormented the Tour of Britain – ensuring the race is invariably torn to shreds well before the finish. Lucy Harris mastered the gradient last year to take the win; expect her successors to need similarly sharp climbing legs and team nous if they’re to claim all-important Team Cup points.
Route
Four anti-clockwise laps carve a figure of eight through North Oxfordshire’s hill-country, the neutral flag dropping roughly 800 metres north of race HQ in Drayton.
From the gun the bunch barrels along the B4100 Warwick Road, two sweeping descents stringing the peloton before a snap-left onto a sleepy lane that spits them out at the foot of The Knowle, Edge Hill. It is only a kilometre long, yet its 110 vertical metres bite at over 15 per cent in places – a prime vantage point for cow-bell-wielding spectators and a natural launchpad for the day’s first real fireworks.
Crested and gasping, the riders tip into a tempo-friendly false flat and then a gradual downhill towards Ratley. A second left swings them onto the A422 Stratford Road – brief, wide, and usually wind-scoured – before another left dives into Quarry Road’s helter-skelter drop into Horley. The descent ends in a hair-pin left that demands precision on tired arms and crisp brake pads.
A stinging kicker out of the village brings the field either under the chequered flag or back onto Warwick Road to do it all again. Four laps, countless chances to make – or miss – the split.
The Team Cup so far…
At the opening round of the British Team Cup, the Florrie Newbery Classic, Noemie Thomson (Southborough and District Wheelers) took a remarkable solo victory in her first-ever road race.
The British Team Cup is a team competition, however (the clue is in the name), and it was Brother UK – On Form who secured the lead in Round 1, with the Phoenix Collective and Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon also scoring highly to position themselves in second and third respectively.
Riders to watch
The startlist lacks big names, but that is the very nature of the British Team Cup – an ideal platform for developing riders to make their mark.
One of the youngest riders on this list, Amelia Staunton (Brother UK – On Form) has been punching well above her weight in the senior ranks. Staunton, still a junior, has showed consistent form this season, finishing 5th at the Witham Hall Grand Prix a week after her 6th at the Florrie Newbery Classic. She’s consistently held her own in tough National Road Series rounds too, proving that her age is no barrier to mixing it with the elite. Her teammate Ellen Bennett (Brother UK – On Form) has been steadily building form and results through the spring. She grabbed a storming second place at the Witham Hall Grand Prix earlier this year, indicating her race endurance is on point. She had three National B road race top tens in 2024, so another top result would be no surprise here.
An experienced all-rounder, Sian Botteley (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team) is the sole UCI Continental rider in the field. She’s had a quiet 2025 so far, but with her experience and race craft she will be a major contender if she can re-find her form.
A newcomer to racing on open roads in 2025, Grace Sargeant (London Academy) has wasted no time making an impact. In just her first few races, she turned heads by sprinting to 2nd at the Capernwray Road Race – only beaten by a UCI-level rider, Esther Wong. That breakout result on a rolling, gritty course underlined her raw power and race savvy despite limited experience. Her rapid rise and fearless approach mean she could spring a surprise if the race becomes an attritional battle.
Ella Tandy (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) is a second-year junior already making waves against adult competition. Last season she surprised seasoned rivals with her East Midlands & West Midlands Road Race Regional Championships victory. This year she demonstrated her all round versatility with seventh overall at the Witham Hall Junior Open and Junior Womens 2 Day before taking second at the Witham Hall Grand Prix. Light and punchy, with a fast finish, Tandy isn’t overawed by the big names.
Watch out too for Jennifer Lemen (PDQ Cycle Coaching), whose 8th place last year proved that she’s suited to this circuit, while Jennifer Powell (Performance Development Team) is well-updated to hills terrain, as evidenced by her 9th place at the punchy Ryedale Grand Prix last season.
Provisional startlist
Share this:
Discover more from The British Continental
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.