2025 BUCS Road Race Championships: preview and startlists
After the drama of last weekend’s Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, the stage now belongs to the students as the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Road Race Championships roll into Devon this weekend (16-17 May).
Here’s our preview.
After the drama of last weekend’s Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, the stage now belongs to the students as the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Road Race Championships roll into Devon this weekend (16-17 May).
Here’s our preview.
Featured image: Emma Wilcock
What is it?
The BUCS Road Championships have long served as a launching pad: Anna Henderson claimed the women’s crown in 2019 before WorldTour duty beckoned; Tom Stewart did the men’s honours in 2012 ahead of his eight-year pro chapter. Last year’s champions were Miriam Jessett and Ed Morgan.
For 2025, the baton passes from the Yomp Bonk Crew to the University of Exeter, and with it comes a new two-day format. Saturday’s prelude is a brace of National B criteriums on RNAS Merryfield’s windswept concrete – 75-minute dogfights around a circuit the Navy nicknamed “Windy City”. There are no BUCS points on the line, just bragging rights and a final tune-up before Sunday’s Devonshire road race.
Image: Emma Wilcock
Route
The road race unfolds on the famed Bridestowe circuit, a championship-worthy loop that has hosted stages of the Totnes–Vire Two-Day and the National Masters Championships (2023). It mirrors Devon riding perfectly: the road is seldom flat, Dartmoor and Roadford Lake frame the horizon, and the forecast promises sunshine.
Racing begins outside the Pump & Pedal cycling café-workshop: the open field rolls out at 12:00, the women’s peloton five minutes later at 12:05.
One long lap of roughly 48 km starts by dipping beneath the A30 – a stretch holiday-makers bound for Cornwall know only too well. Staying on the A386, the bunch will thunder downhill for several kilometres before a sharp left onto the A3079 towards Yelland and Thorndon Cross. A vertiginous drop is followed immediately by a longer, equally steep kicker: the first natural launch-pad for breakaway bids or early selection.
The rolling A3079 – ridden in reverse by many during this year’s Totnes–Vire – then leads to a left-hander at Metherell Cross. Here, a rough-surfaced minor road offers any escapees the chance to disappear from sight and mind.
Both races descend steadily to Roadford Lake, the largest body of freshwater in the South West. They will cross the reservoir’s dramatic dam twice, a magnet for photographers. Once clear of the lake, the roads broaden and smooth out, climbing left onto the old A30 – a fast, wide drag tailor-made for an organised chase.
The route rises back towards the modern A30, through Bridestowe and across the finish line for the bell: one lap down, another 48 km to race. Because of the circuit’s length, riders crossing the line more than five minutes behind the convoy will be withdrawn yet still classified.
The finale is a brutal uphill drag that demands both raw power and perfect timing.
Riders to watch
Women’s race
The women’s start list is dominated by two colours: Nottingham green and Loughborough purple. Nottingham roll up with seven riders, Loughborough with six, giving them the numerical heft to shut down breaks, double-team the moves and, in the finale, play the old one-two while solo institutions scramble to cover every surge.
Yet the rider most likely to blow the whole script apart wears neither jersey. The University of Edinburgh’s Amelia Tyler arrives fresh from a podium at the East Cleveland Classic and another top-ten in March’s CiCLE Classic, proof that she can survive – and then win – the hardest National-A days.
Loughborough’s fire-power is impressive. Elena Day (4th at Kennel Hill) often sets the tempo on selective circuits, while Georgia Lancaster combines race-winning pedigree – she bagged the Solihull British Team Cup road race in 2023 – with recent speed, sprinting to 7th at Witham Hall. Backed by Callinan, Inglis and Kelly, Lightning can unleash attacks in waves or ride for a Lancaster sprint.
Nottingham counters with equal depth. El King, last year’s CiCLE Classic champion, still owns one of the sharpest finishes in the bunch, while Hannah Clough’s seventh place over the climbs of Capernwray underlined how quickly the BUCS runner-up from 2024 is adapting to senior racing. Expect the green jerseys to make the race attritional.
The joker is cyclocross specialist Madeline Cooper (University of Leeds) – fifth at Kennel Hill and hungry for a maiden road win – and the wildcard is Phoebe Roche (St Mary’s University), whose well-timed late kick stole the Witham Hall Grand Prix on 4 May. If the big squads hesitate, either could snatch BUCS gold with one brave move.
Image: Emma Wilcock
Open race
In the open race, nine universities bring squads of five-plus riders, with Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Derby, Exeter, Loughborough, Nottingham and Oxford all bringing multiple options. That depth means any solo flyer will need perfect timing – but several riders have shown the form (and nous) to do just that.
Local favourite Thomas Gardner (University of Exeter) should know every hedgerow here. Fourth at the Portsmouth North End National B on 19 April and a combative top-four on stage 3 of Totnes Vire a fortnight earlier, the 21-year-old thrives on short, gritty climbs – exactly what the Bridestowe circuit serves up.
Bath’s hopes rest with Samuel Nisbet, whose spring has been a blur of podiums: second on the high-speed Odd Down Winter Series 1/2/3 race and again on the circuit stage of Totnes Vire. If a small group drags itself clear late on, Nisbet’s kick is one of the sharpest.
Birmingham’s Piers Mahn is the peloton’s diesel engine. He was runner-up overall at Totnes Vire, added top-tens at Chitterne and the Shutt Velo Rapide Crits, and rarely misses the day’s decisive move – perfect ballast for a team with five cards to play.
No squad is bigger than Loughborough’s, and their twin spearheads look lethal. Nathan Hardy has already pocketed tenth in the Gifford Road Race and seventh at the Timmy James GP, while Barney Hall – eighth in that same Lincolnshire shoot-out – offers a second option.
Racing largely without team back-up, Cai Davies (Leicester) may be the most dangerous wildcard. He tore up last year’s National Circuit Series with three top-ten finishes – 8th Guildford, 9th Ilkley and 10th Dudley – and has already bagged podium points with a bronze at Spring MK Bowl this season. If the big squads hesitate, Davies’ crit-honed jump can make a late move stick.
And don’t ignore Ciaran McSherry (Edinburgh). A commanding victory at the West Lothian GP, fifth in the Scottish Road Race Championships and a win in the Knockhill Mountain TT prove the Scot is climbing well.
And watch for Archie Peet too. Racing in Swansea colours, the former mountain-biker has already proved he can win solo – remember his victory at the 2024 PB Performance Espoirs Road Race – and his ninth at last summer’s Cambridge Criterium shows he can mix with the fast men in a select group.
After the drama of last weekend’s Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, the stage now belongs to the students as the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Road Race Championships roll into Devon this weekend (16-17 May).
Here’s our preview.
Featured image: Emma Wilcock
What is it?
The BUCS Road Championships have long served as a launching pad: Anna Henderson claimed the women’s crown in 2019 before WorldTour duty beckoned; Tom Stewart did the men’s honours in 2012 ahead of his eight-year pro chapter. Last year’s champions were Miriam Jessett and Ed Morgan.
For 2025, the baton passes from the Yomp Bonk Crew to the University of Exeter, and with it comes a new two-day format. Saturday’s prelude is a brace of National B criteriums on RNAS Merryfield’s windswept concrete – 75-minute dogfights around a circuit the Navy nicknamed “Windy City”. There are no BUCS points on the line, just bragging rights and a final tune-up before Sunday’s Devonshire road race.
Route
The road race unfolds on the famed Bridestowe circuit, a championship-worthy loop that has hosted stages of the Totnes–Vire Two-Day and the National Masters Championships (2023). It mirrors Devon riding perfectly: the road is seldom flat, Dartmoor and Roadford Lake frame the horizon, and the forecast promises sunshine.
Racing begins outside the Pump & Pedal cycling café-workshop: the open field rolls out at 12:00, the women’s peloton five minutes later at 12:05.
One long lap of roughly 48 km starts by dipping beneath the A30 – a stretch holiday-makers bound for Cornwall know only too well. Staying on the A386, the bunch will thunder downhill for several kilometres before a sharp left onto the A3079 towards Yelland and Thorndon Cross. A vertiginous drop is followed immediately by a longer, equally steep kicker: the first natural launch-pad for breakaway bids or early selection.
The rolling A3079 – ridden in reverse by many during this year’s Totnes–Vire – then leads to a left-hander at Metherell Cross. Here, a rough-surfaced minor road offers any escapees the chance to disappear from sight and mind.
Both races descend steadily to Roadford Lake, the largest body of freshwater in the South West. They will cross the reservoir’s dramatic dam twice, a magnet for photographers. Once clear of the lake, the roads broaden and smooth out, climbing left onto the old A30 – a fast, wide drag tailor-made for an organised chase.
The route rises back towards the modern A30, through Bridestowe and across the finish line for the bell: one lap down, another 48 km to race. Because of the circuit’s length, riders crossing the line more than five minutes behind the convoy will be withdrawn yet still classified.
The finale is a brutal uphill drag that demands both raw power and perfect timing.
Riders to watch
Women’s race
The women’s start list is dominated by two colours: Nottingham green and Loughborough purple. Nottingham roll up with seven riders, Loughborough with six, giving them the numerical heft to shut down breaks, double-team the moves and, in the finale, play the old one-two while solo institutions scramble to cover every surge.
Yet the rider most likely to blow the whole script apart wears neither jersey. The University of Edinburgh’s Amelia Tyler arrives fresh from a podium at the East Cleveland Classic and another top-ten in March’s CiCLE Classic, proof that she can survive – and then win – the hardest National-A days.
Loughborough’s fire-power is impressive. Elena Day (4th at Kennel Hill) often sets the tempo on selective circuits, while Georgia Lancaster combines race-winning pedigree – she bagged the Solihull British Team Cup road race in 2023 – with recent speed, sprinting to 7th at Witham Hall. Backed by Callinan, Inglis and Kelly, Lightning can unleash attacks in waves or ride for a Lancaster sprint.
Nottingham counters with equal depth. El King, last year’s CiCLE Classic champion, still owns one of the sharpest finishes in the bunch, while Hannah Clough’s seventh place over the climbs of Capernwray underlined how quickly the BUCS runner-up from 2024 is adapting to senior racing. Expect the green jerseys to make the race attritional.
The joker is cyclocross specialist Madeline Cooper (University of Leeds) – fifth at Kennel Hill and hungry for a maiden road win – and the wildcard is Phoebe Roche (St Mary’s University), whose well-timed late kick stole the Witham Hall Grand Prix on 4 May. If the big squads hesitate, either could snatch BUCS gold with one brave move.
Open race
In the open race, nine universities bring squads of five-plus riders, with Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Derby, Exeter, Loughborough, Nottingham and Oxford all bringing multiple options. That depth means any solo flyer will need perfect timing – but several riders have shown the form (and nous) to do just that.
Local favourite Thomas Gardner (University of Exeter) should know every hedgerow here. Fourth at the Portsmouth North End National B on 19 April and a combative top-four on stage 3 of Totnes Vire a fortnight earlier, the 21-year-old thrives on short, gritty climbs – exactly what the Bridestowe circuit serves up.
Bath’s hopes rest with Samuel Nisbet, whose spring has been a blur of podiums: second on the high-speed Odd Down Winter Series 1/2/3 race and again on the circuit stage of Totnes Vire. If a small group drags itself clear late on, Nisbet’s kick is one of the sharpest.
Birmingham’s Piers Mahn is the peloton’s diesel engine. He was runner-up overall at Totnes Vire, added top-tens at Chitterne and the Shutt Velo Rapide Crits, and rarely misses the day’s decisive move – perfect ballast for a team with five cards to play.
No squad is bigger than Loughborough’s, and their twin spearheads look lethal. Nathan Hardy has already pocketed tenth in the Gifford Road Race and seventh at the Timmy James GP, while Barney Hall – eighth in that same Lincolnshire shoot-out – offers a second option.
Racing largely without team back-up, Cai Davies (Leicester) may be the most dangerous wildcard. He tore up last year’s National Circuit Series with three top-ten finishes – 8th Guildford, 9th Ilkley and 10th Dudley – and has already bagged podium points with a bronze at Spring MK Bowl this season. If the big squads hesitate, Davies’ crit-honed jump can make a late move stick.
And don’t ignore Ciaran McSherry (Edinburgh). A commanding victory at the West Lothian GP, fifth in the Scottish Road Race Championships and a win in the Knockhill Mountain TT prove the Scot is climbing well.
And watch for Archie Peet too. Racing in Swansea colours, the former mountain-biker has already proved he can win solo – remember his victory at the 2024 PB Performance Espoirs Road Race – and his ninth at last summer’s Cambridge Criterium shows he can mix with the fast men in a select group.
Provisional startlists
Women’s race
Open race
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