2026 BUCS Road Race Championships: report and result
Sam Chaplin and Lily Martin both rode clear alone on the Jacobstowe circuit as Loughborough University claimed the open and women’s BUCS Road Race Championship titles in west Devon on Sunday 24 May
Sam Chaplin and Lily Martin gave Loughborough University the open and women’s titles at the BUCS Road Race Championships in west Devon on Sunday, both riding solo to the line on the hottest day so far recorded in the South West this year.
Featured image: Aegean Bramley
Report
The University of Exeter Cycling Club delivered a short, lumpy 12-kilometre loop on the western edge of Dartmoor, raced on what organisers described as the hottest day yet recorded in the South West this year and with no shade to speak of. The heat shaped both races as much as the parcours did. Both ended in solo wins.
Women’s race
Seventeen riders rolled out for the women’s race, four down on the entry list after late withdrawals—one from Southampton and three from Loughborough, including pre-race favourite Elena Day (Smurfit Westrock), who had been second at the championships last year. The opening laps were conservative, with no move able to draw clear of the bunch.
Early drama came at the start of lap two when Hannah Clough, one of the pre-race favourites, snapped a rear gear cable. The race was briefly neutralised for a stranded vehicle further up the course, but the gradients proved too much in a single gear and Clough was forced to abandon.
A series of attacks followed but none stuck. The decisive move came at the start of lap four, when Lily Martin (Loughborough) attacked alone. Within less than a lap the 20-year-old—arriving in Devon off a solo win at the Banbury Star Women’s Road Race the previous weekend—had 54 seconds. By the end of lap five the lead was over 2:30; by the bell she had over five minutes.
“It was a really tough start to the race with attacks firing off all over the place,” Martin says. “I managed to get a lucky break and decided to give it a go.”
Image: Aegean Bramley
The chase, with most institutions outside Loughborough fielding only one or two riders, never coordinated. Behind Martin the heat thinned the lead group lap by lap until only eight remained in contention on the final circuit. With 5km to go her Di2 gave up, leaving her with two gears for the run-in. “Things got pretty nerve-wracking,” she says, “but luckily I managed to get myself over the line.” Her advantage held, and she rode home alone for her first BUCS title.
The remaining riders contested the sprint for the podium behind. Freya Taylor (Cambridge) took second, Amelia Staunton (Swansea) third, and Hope Inglis (Birmingham) fourth, the same position she took here last year.
Open race
By the time the open race rolled out at 14:00, the heat had turned extreme. Riders sat at the start in ice socks, stuffing ice down their jerseys; just under 60 took to the line.
The first lap saw a constant stream of attacks, many of them driven by riders from Nottingham, who were prominent throughout the opening exchanges. An early move of eight gained around 15 seconds before being shut down inside the first lap. On lap two, after the rolling roads approaching Jacobstowe, George Cottrell (Nottingham) went solo and briefly slipped clear before being brought back after riders behind were warned for drifting across the road.
The race-defining move took shape on lap four, when a group of eight broke clear and was joined by around ten riders. By lap five of ten, the race had fractured into four groups, with the lead selection holding 33 seconds over the next group. By halfway, that gap was a minute. By lap six, 1:23.
Three Loughborough riders made the front group: Sam Chaplin alongside Daniel Barnes and Joseph Smith. With 70 kilometres remaining Chaplin began testing the move; on lap seven, with around 53 kilometres to go, he went clear with a sharp acceleration that initially looked harmless. Within moments, he had a substantial gap as hesitation behind prevented any organised chase from forming.
“That wasn’t the plan—I wanted to have another two riders at least with me,” he says. “But I had to commit to the move and hope people bridged to me.”
Nobody did. As temperatures continued to climb, riders took every chance to cool themselves, pouring water over their bodies and feeding constantly; helpers from multiple teams worked across rider lines and bottles were shared in the extreme conditions. On lap eight, Hamish Johnstone (Swansea) and Cobi Allen (Cambridge) counter-attacked from the chase group and briefly looked promising before being brought back. Steven Parsonage (Cambridge) then went solo on the ninth as the pace eased on one of the climbs, opening 15 seconds on what was left of the lead group. By this stage the peloton was more than five minutes adrift. Chaplin’s lead stabilised between 30 and 45 seconds as the chasers attacked one another.
Image: Aegean Bramley
With two and a half laps to go, the elastic snapped. The lead grew past 90 seconds and kept going; on the final approach to Jacobstowe, repeated attacks shattered the front group altogether. Chaplin rode up the false-flat A386 finishing drag around two minutes clear. Parsonage held on for second from his solo move. Barnes was strongest in the reduced bunch sprint behind to take third, completing a pair of Loughborough podiums on a day that belonged to the Midlands university.
Further back, James Satoor (Nottingham Trent)—third here last year—finished fourth in the chasing-group sprint, with George Stephen (Nottingham), seventh in last year’s race, seventh again this time around.
Sam Chaplin and Lily Martin gave Loughborough University the open and women’s titles at the BUCS Road Race Championships in west Devon on Sunday, both riding solo to the line on the hottest day so far recorded in the South West this year.
Featured image: Aegean Bramley
Report
The University of Exeter Cycling Club delivered a short, lumpy 12-kilometre loop on the western edge of Dartmoor, raced on what organisers described as the hottest day yet recorded in the South West this year and with no shade to speak of. The heat shaped both races as much as the parcours did. Both ended in solo wins.
Women’s race
Seventeen riders rolled out for the women’s race, four down on the entry list after late withdrawals—one from Southampton and three from Loughborough, including pre-race favourite Elena Day (Smurfit Westrock), who had been second at the championships last year. The opening laps were conservative, with no move able to draw clear of the bunch.
Early drama came at the start of lap two when Hannah Clough, one of the pre-race favourites, snapped a rear gear cable. The race was briefly neutralised for a stranded vehicle further up the course, but the gradients proved too much in a single gear and Clough was forced to abandon.
A series of attacks followed but none stuck. The decisive move came at the start of lap four, when Lily Martin (Loughborough) attacked alone. Within less than a lap the 20-year-old—arriving in Devon off a solo win at the Banbury Star Women’s Road Race the previous weekend—had 54 seconds. By the end of lap five the lead was over 2:30; by the bell she had over five minutes.
“It was a really tough start to the race with attacks firing off all over the place,” Martin says. “I managed to get a lucky break and decided to give it a go.”
The chase, with most institutions outside Loughborough fielding only one or two riders, never coordinated. Behind Martin the heat thinned the lead group lap by lap until only eight remained in contention on the final circuit. With 5km to go her Di2 gave up, leaving her with two gears for the run-in. “Things got pretty nerve-wracking,” she says, “but luckily I managed to get myself over the line.” Her advantage held, and she rode home alone for her first BUCS title.
The remaining riders contested the sprint for the podium behind. Freya Taylor (Cambridge) took second, Amelia Staunton (Swansea) third, and Hope Inglis (Birmingham) fourth, the same position she took here last year.
Open race
By the time the open race rolled out at 14:00, the heat had turned extreme. Riders sat at the start in ice socks, stuffing ice down their jerseys; just under 60 took to the line.
The first lap saw a constant stream of attacks, many of them driven by riders from Nottingham, who were prominent throughout the opening exchanges. An early move of eight gained around 15 seconds before being shut down inside the first lap. On lap two, after the rolling roads approaching Jacobstowe, George Cottrell (Nottingham) went solo and briefly slipped clear before being brought back after riders behind were warned for drifting across the road.
The race-defining move took shape on lap four, when a group of eight broke clear and was joined by around ten riders. By lap five of ten, the race had fractured into four groups, with the lead selection holding 33 seconds over the next group. By halfway, that gap was a minute. By lap six, 1:23.
Three Loughborough riders made the front group: Sam Chaplin alongside Daniel Barnes and Joseph Smith. With 70 kilometres remaining Chaplin began testing the move; on lap seven, with around 53 kilometres to go, he went clear with a sharp acceleration that initially looked harmless. Within moments, he had a substantial gap as hesitation behind prevented any organised chase from forming.
“That wasn’t the plan—I wanted to have another two riders at least with me,” he says. “But I had to commit to the move and hope people bridged to me.”
Nobody did. As temperatures continued to climb, riders took every chance to cool themselves, pouring water over their bodies and feeding constantly; helpers from multiple teams worked across rider lines and bottles were shared in the extreme conditions. On lap eight, Hamish Johnstone (Swansea) and Cobi Allen (Cambridge) counter-attacked from the chase group and briefly looked promising before being brought back. Steven Parsonage (Cambridge) then went solo on the ninth as the pace eased on one of the climbs, opening 15 seconds on what was left of the lead group. By this stage the peloton was more than five minutes adrift. Chaplin’s lead stabilised between 30 and 45 seconds as the chasers attacked one another.
With two and a half laps to go, the elastic snapped. The lead grew past 90 seconds and kept going; on the final approach to Jacobstowe, repeated attacks shattered the front group altogether. Chaplin rode up the false-flat A386 finishing drag around two minutes clear. Parsonage held on for second from his solo move. Barnes was strongest in the reduced bunch sprint behind to take third, completing a pair of Loughborough podiums on a day that belonged to the Midlands university.
Further back, James Satoor (Nottingham Trent)—third here last year—finished fourth in the chasing-group sprint, with George Stephen (Nottingham), seventh in last year’s race, seventh again this time around.
Results
Women’s race
Open race
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