BUCS Road Race Championships to return in 2026 on new Woodbury Circuit
The BUCS Road Race Championships will return in 2026, with the University of Exeter Cycling Club confirmed as host once again - this time on the new Woodbury Circuit.
The BUCS Road Race Championships will return in 2026, with University of Exeter Cycling Club confirmed as host for a second consecutive year.
The championships will take place on Sunday 24 May 2026, moving onto Exeter’s new Woodbury Circuit, a change that promises a subtly different test to the one faced by riders in 2025.
The event sits at the heart of the university racing calendar, bringing together student riders from across the country to compete for national titles under the banner of British Universities & Colleges Sport. While university racing occupies a distinct space within the domestic landscape, the BUCS Road Race has increasingly become a point of crossover – a place where developing riders test themselves in a proper championship environment.
Image: Chris Godfrey
Organisers told The British Continental that the 2026 championships will be contested on a new 21km circuit that loops through the heart of Woodbury Common, with the start and finish located at Woodbury Castle, the site of an Iron Age hill fort. The course is expected to offer a rolling test rather than a single defining climb, with open roads and expansive views across the Devon countryside. Both the open and women’s championships are set to be raced over four laps.
In last year’s event, Archie Peet(University of Swansea) emerged the winner in the open race, in what was a selective contest shaped by repeated pressure on the climbs and an attritional race of position. The women’s race was similarly selective. Maddie Cooper (University of Leeds) claimed the title with a well-judged attack on the final rise, forcing separation late on and underlining the value of patience and race craft as much as raw power.
Further details – including course specifics, timings and confirmed rider lists – will be released closer to the event.
The BUCS Road Race Championships will return in 2026, with University of Exeter Cycling Club confirmed as host for a second consecutive year.
The championships will take place on Sunday 24 May 2026, moving onto Exeter’s new Woodbury Circuit, a change that promises a subtly different test to the one faced by riders in 2025.
The event sits at the heart of the university racing calendar, bringing together student riders from across the country to compete for national titles under the banner of British Universities & Colleges Sport. While university racing occupies a distinct space within the domestic landscape, the BUCS Road Race has increasingly become a point of crossover – a place where developing riders test themselves in a proper championship environment.
Organisers told The British Continental that the 2026 championships will be contested on a new 21km circuit that loops through the heart of Woodbury Common, with the start and finish located at Woodbury Castle, the site of an Iron Age hill fort. The course is expected to offer a rolling test rather than a single defining climb, with open roads and expansive views across the Devon countryside. Both the open and women’s championships are set to be raced over four laps.
In last year’s event, Archie Peet (University of Swansea) emerged the winner in the open race, in what was a selective contest shaped by repeated pressure on the climbs and an attritional race of position. The women’s race was similarly selective. Maddie Cooper (University of Leeds) claimed the title with a well-judged attack on the final rise, forcing separation late on and underlining the value of patience and race craft as much as raw power.
Further details – including course specifics, timings and confirmed rider lists – will be released closer to the event.
Featured image: Chris Godfrey
Share this:
Discover more from The British Continental
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.