Blues Bash BUCS Again

Cambridge’s cyclists have reaffirmed their status as the best in the country.

Cambridge University Cycling Club (CUCC) clinched the British Universities and Colleges Sports Championships (BUCS) for the third year running with their recent domination of the Track Cycling Championships.

Llewellyn Kinch of Jesus cleaned up at the most recent BUCS competition winning the 4km individual pursuit gold medal, as well as gold in the points race and a further gold in the individual one kilometer time trial.

He was backed up by James Hawkins, who was second fastest in the individual pursuit, and Toby Parnell, who took third spot in that same event as well as bronze in the sprint, going on to win team gold with Kinch overall.

Kinch winning the 4km individual pursuit.

George Bate of Cambridge came in second behind Kinch in the points race to further bump up Cambridge’s BUCS points tally.

Toby Weatherall was second in the sprint and fourth in the individual pursuit, giving Cambridge a one, two, three, four ahead of Birmingham’s fastest rider (who had a BUCS champion lycra skinsuit made up in anticipation of his victory).

Weatherall and Hawkins took team silver to complete a very successful day of racing and secure Cambridge’s firm position at the top of the BUCS cycling table. Full results are here.

Earlier in the year Andrew Nichols, Toby Weatherall and Wojciech Szlachta ensured CUCC’s BUCS campaign set off on the right pedal stroke by winning team silver in the Hill Climb, Nichols coming second overall.

Weatherall (left) beating Parnell in all-Cambridge Sprint semi-final in the track champs.

Nichols, Parnell and Mark Holt then earned Cambridge another team silver at the Cyclocross Championship in Lent term. Weatherall, Parnell and Dan Ahearn snuck to BUCS Gold in the Team Time Trial, raced over 50km in a time of just under one hour and eight minutes, beating Durham by three seconds.

Tom Morris, Ahearn and Weatherall took team gold, destroying the compeition in the 10 mile Time Trial in May term, with Morris coming second overall.

Morris then won the Varsity match and BUCS Gold in the 25 mile Time Trial (averaging nearly 29 mph), with Ahearn and Hawkins helping Cambridge to a team silver. Good performances from, Hawkins, Tom Durno and Szlachta made the Light Blues’ presence felt in the BUCS Road Race earning a further BUCS team silver.

Similarly, Parnell and Phil Buckham-Bonnet both came in the top 20 in the BUCS Mountain Biking to earn their half-blues, held in Dumfries in a chilly Lent term, but also did not score any points.

The Track Champs provided the ultimate triumph for Cambridge, sending the Light Blues above the rest of the country’s universities and retaining the championship in style.