2026 Banbury Star Road Race: preview and startlist
The Banbury Star Road Race returns as round two of the British Women’s Team Cup, with a first-ever summit finish on The Knowle at Edge Hill giving the north Oxfordshire fixture a sharper edge. A week on from Lincoln, several in-form riders head to Banbury with climbing legs, Team Cup points and early-season momentum at stake.
A week after an action-packed edition of the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, a number of riders who made swashbuckling runs on Michaelgate’s cobbles turn their attention to the lanes of Oxfordshire for Round 2 of the British Women’s Team Cup this weekend (17 May).
Centred around the fearsome 15% gradients of The Knowle at Edge Hill, this year used as the finish line, a peloton of up-and-coming talents and established names looking to claim themselves a strong result on an iconic course will make for a thrilling race.
Here’s our route preview, riders to watch, and a full start list.
This year’s Banbury Star Road Race, organised by Banbury Star Cyclists’ Club, is the second round of the always hotly-contested British Women’s Team Cup. An always vital source of competition, and British Cycling Points, for the women’s peloton, this second round of the season is set to be as competitive as you would expect the series’ rounds to be.
The Route
After a run out from HQ onto the anti-clockwise circuit, riders will complete four full laps of the roughly (if you squint) triangular course taking in North Oxfordshire’s hill country.
After the neutralised start, the race powers along the B4100 Warwick Road, two sweeping descents lining out the peloton before a tight left sets them up for the course’s most brutal feature – The Knowle, Edge Hill.
Always proving challenging, with its 110m of climbing (with gradients touching 15% at points) over its one kilometre length, The Knowle has extra bite this year. That’s because the race organisers have made the devious decision to make the climb’s summit the finish line for this year’s edition. Anyone who wants to cross the line with arms aloft will have to put in every ounce of their power to make the difference.
After cresting the Knowle on the first three laps, the course tips riders into a tempo-friendly false flat and then slight relief of a downhill toward Ratley. Another left swings them briefly onto a wide and often wind-beaten A422 Stratford Road, before yet another left and a drop into Horley which ends with a hairpin left which demands respect and a firm hand on the brake levers.
The Team Cup so far…
After a magnificent sprint victory for Georgia Lancaster at the Florrie Newbery Classic, her Loughborough Lightning squad top the Team Cup standings on 237 points. However, this is about the team competition, not just individual success, and with London Academy getting four riders in the top 20, they are just 13 points behind in second and no doubt keen to overhaul the Loughborough team in Oxfordshire.
Indeed, with two riders in the top five, Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon are also well positioned heading into Round 2.
Position
Team
Points
1
Loughborough Lightning
237
2
London Academy Team A
224
3
Jadan Glasdon pb Vive le Velo
215
4
Brother UK – On Form
203
5
Wolfox CAMS Le Col RT
166
6
O’Shea Development Team
102
7
Paralloy RT
90
8
The Hera Project
55
9
DRAFT
49
10
FTP Fusion
48
Riders to watch
Whilst Lancaster is on the entry list and will be looking to attempt a Team Cup double, there are plenty of riders on the startlist who would love nothing more than to notch up a victory at this Nat B.
None more so than Ruby Oakes (FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing). Breaking clear with DAS-Hutchinson duo Morven Yeoman and Noémie Thomson at Lincoln, Oakes can feel hard done by not to end up with a podium having been overtaken by Anna Morris on the final ascent of Michaelgate. However, she would do well to take the positives from what was a strong ride against her former team-mates. If she can show the same form again in Oxfordshire, victory is well within her sights and it would be nothing less than she deserves.
Ruby Oakes. Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
There’s other riders who could also capitalise on Lincoln form to take a well-earned win. The first of which is Ella Tandy (Simpson Nouvelles). Second at the Florrie Newbery by a matter of inches, she was front-and-centre in the main chase group at Lincoln, easing up the cobbles alongside riders including Marjolein Van’t Geloof. Take that form onto The Knowle and she could go one better than at Florrie.
Amelia Staunton (Brother UK – On Form) completed the Florrie Newbery podium behind Lancaster and Tandy, and the 18-year-old U23 will fancy her chances of going one better in Oxfordshire. She has the cover of a seven-strong Brother UK squad – the largest entered team on the startlist – to attack from on the Knowle.
Also carrying in good Lincoln form is Jennifer Powell (Performance Development Team). She spent a number of laps attempting to bridge across to the lead three and showed good power and stamina in the process. Add that form and motivation to fifth at Witham Hall, and sixth at the Capernwray Road Race, and Powell will see this course as one she can put her stamp on.
London Academy bring a seven-strong squad of their own, and the rider most likely to deliver for them is Georgia Huddleston. She only switched from Saddle Up Frequency days before Lincoln, where 28th hinted at a transition still bedding in, but look further back and her seventh at the Florrie Newbery and fourth at the London Academy Easter Road Race in early April show what she can do when everything clicks. A stronger team around her on the right course could be exactly the unlock.
Libby Bell at the Peak 2 Day.Image: Joe Hudson
Alongside Lancaster, Loughborough Lightning come in with a small but powerful squad which includes Lily Martin, Libby Bell and Peggy Simpkins. Martin has had a rapid start to the season and will be the main hope for the purple-shod squad for this race. Two fourth places in the TT and road race at the Peak 2 Day, and then eighth and 15th at the CiCLE and Lincoln, show she’s on fine form that deserves a podium at minimum.
Bell and Simpkins will provide solid support in that effort, the former has been round the edges of the top 20 all season and has the ability to push on for more. Simpkins, meanwhile, has had a more reduced campaign so far this year but has the advantage of being a former Banbury Star rider – could local knowledge prove the key?
Amy Henchoz at the CiCLE Classic. Credit: Olly Hassell/SWPix.com
Amy Henchoz (Paralloy RT) will no doubt enjoy this course. An unlucky second behind Anna Morris at Capernwray, a course that also culminated in a leg-sapping climb to the finish, her ‘worst’ result (discounting a DNF at the CiCLE Classic) is 12th at the equally climbing-intensive East Cleveland Classic. As she continues her development in road racing, having moved from off-road competition, her performances deserve being rewarded with victory. This weekend is a fine opportunity to get the breakthrough.
The same could well be said for Sophie Holmes (The Hera Project), the winner of last year’s edition. She’s finding the form cruelly snatched away after being hit by a car on a training ride last year. 14th at Lincoln is yet another demonstration that she’s getting back the form we all expect of her. 12th at Florrie, and 38th at East Cleveland – hampered by a first lap mechanical – can easily be built on.
Finally, the junior name to know is Grace Upshall (Shibden Apex RT). The 17-year-old has raced sparingly this season, but her third place at the London Academy Easter Road Race in April marks her out as a serious talent – and the standout junior on this startlist. On a climbing finish she’s exactly the kind of rider who could spring a surprise against U23 and senior fields.
A week after an action-packed edition of the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, a number of riders who made swashbuckling runs on Michaelgate’s cobbles turn their attention to the lanes of Oxfordshire for Round 2 of the British Women’s Team Cup this weekend (17 May).
Centred around the fearsome 15% gradients of The Knowle at Edge Hill, this year used as the finish line, a peloton of up-and-coming talents and established names looking to claim themselves a strong result on an iconic course will make for a thrilling race.
Here’s our route preview, riders to watch, and a full start list.
Featured image: Mark James
Use code TBC10 at 4Endurance.co.uk for 10% off your order.
What is it?
This year’s Banbury Star Road Race, organised by Banbury Star Cyclists’ Club, is the second round of the always hotly-contested British Women’s Team Cup. An always vital source of competition, and British Cycling Points, for the women’s peloton, this second round of the season is set to be as competitive as you would expect the series’ rounds to be.
The Route
After a run out from HQ onto the anti-clockwise circuit, riders will complete four full laps of the roughly (if you squint) triangular course taking in North Oxfordshire’s hill country.
After the neutralised start, the race powers along the B4100 Warwick Road, two sweeping descents lining out the peloton before a tight left sets them up for the course’s most brutal feature – The Knowle, Edge Hill.
Always proving challenging, with its 110m of climbing (with gradients touching 15% at points) over its one kilometre length, The Knowle has extra bite this year. That’s because the race organisers have made the devious decision to make the climb’s summit the finish line for this year’s edition. Anyone who wants to cross the line with arms aloft will have to put in every ounce of their power to make the difference.
After cresting the Knowle on the first three laps, the course tips riders into a tempo-friendly false flat and then slight relief of a downhill toward Ratley. Another left swings them briefly onto a wide and often wind-beaten A422 Stratford Road, before yet another left and a drop into Horley which ends with a hairpin left which demands respect and a firm hand on the brake levers.
The Team Cup so far…
After a magnificent sprint victory for Georgia Lancaster at the Florrie Newbery Classic, her Loughborough Lightning squad top the Team Cup standings on 237 points. However, this is about the team competition, not just individual success, and with London Academy getting four riders in the top 20, they are just 13 points behind in second and no doubt keen to overhaul the Loughborough team in Oxfordshire.
Indeed, with two riders in the top five, Jadan Vive le Velo p/b Glasdon are also well positioned heading into Round 2.
Riders to watch
Whilst Lancaster is on the entry list and will be looking to attempt a Team Cup double, there are plenty of riders on the startlist who would love nothing more than to notch up a victory at this Nat B.
None more so than Ruby Oakes (FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing). Breaking clear with DAS-Hutchinson duo Morven Yeoman and Noémie Thomson at Lincoln, Oakes can feel hard done by not to end up with a podium having been overtaken by Anna Morris on the final ascent of Michaelgate. However, she would do well to take the positives from what was a strong ride against her former team-mates. If she can show the same form again in Oxfordshire, victory is well within her sights and it would be nothing less than she deserves.
There’s other riders who could also capitalise on Lincoln form to take a well-earned win. The first of which is Ella Tandy (Simpson Nouvelles). Second at the Florrie Newbery by a matter of inches, she was front-and-centre in the main chase group at Lincoln, easing up the cobbles alongside riders including Marjolein Van’t Geloof. Take that form onto The Knowle and she could go one better than at Florrie.
Amelia Staunton (Brother UK – On Form) completed the Florrie Newbery podium behind Lancaster and Tandy, and the 18-year-old U23 will fancy her chances of going one better in Oxfordshire. She has the cover of a seven-strong Brother UK squad – the largest entered team on the startlist – to attack from on the Knowle.
Also carrying in good Lincoln form is Jennifer Powell (Performance Development Team). She spent a number of laps attempting to bridge across to the lead three and showed good power and stamina in the process. Add that form and motivation to fifth at Witham Hall, and sixth at the Capernwray Road Race, and Powell will see this course as one she can put her stamp on.
London Academy bring a seven-strong squad of their own, and the rider most likely to deliver for them is Georgia Huddleston. She only switched from Saddle Up Frequency days before Lincoln, where 28th hinted at a transition still bedding in, but look further back and her seventh at the Florrie Newbery and fourth at the London Academy Easter Road Race in early April show what she can do when everything clicks. A stronger team around her on the right course could be exactly the unlock.
Alongside Lancaster, Loughborough Lightning come in with a small but powerful squad which includes Lily Martin, Libby Bell and Peggy Simpkins. Martin has had a rapid start to the season and will be the main hope for the purple-shod squad for this race. Two fourth places in the TT and road race at the Peak 2 Day, and then eighth and 15th at the CiCLE and Lincoln, show she’s on fine form that deserves a podium at minimum.
Bell and Simpkins will provide solid support in that effort, the former has been round the edges of the top 20 all season and has the ability to push on for more. Simpkins, meanwhile, has had a more reduced campaign so far this year but has the advantage of being a former Banbury Star rider – could local knowledge prove the key?
Amy Henchoz (Paralloy RT) will no doubt enjoy this course. An unlucky second behind Anna Morris at Capernwray, a course that also culminated in a leg-sapping climb to the finish, her ‘worst’ result (discounting a DNF at the CiCLE Classic) is 12th at the equally climbing-intensive East Cleveland Classic. As she continues her development in road racing, having moved from off-road competition, her performances deserve being rewarded with victory. This weekend is a fine opportunity to get the breakthrough.
The same could well be said for Sophie Holmes (The Hera Project), the winner of last year’s edition. She’s finding the form cruelly snatched away after being hit by a car on a training ride last year. 14th at Lincoln is yet another demonstration that she’s getting back the form we all expect of her. 12th at Florrie, and 38th at East Cleveland – hampered by a first lap mechanical – can easily be built on.
Finally, the junior name to know is Grace Upshall (Shibden Apex RT). The 17-year-old has raced sparingly this season, but her third place at the London Academy Easter Road Race in April marks her out as a serious talent – and the standout junior on this startlist. On a climbing finish she’s exactly the kind of rider who could spring a surprise against U23 and senior fields.
Startlist
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