Cambridge Crit/London Academy GP/Maria Thompson RR, 24 Aug-7 Sep 2025

Cambridge Crit saw the consequences of my own actions come back to absolutely bite me. Because I got my Cat 2 licence a few weeks before, I wasn’t able to enter the Womens 3/4 race, which would have been the wiser race to enter considering I’d never done a town centre crit – or even any crits higher than a Regional A level – before. So the Nat A E12 it was.

I was an absolute gibbering wreck before the race. I’d spent the morning watching the amateur womens and mens races, and then, just before, the elite men’s. And they looked brutal; a fair few crashes, a lot of yelling, a lot of friends DNFing. The other women in my race were all warming up alongside fancy team vans on their rollers. I haven’t even figured out how to ride rollers yet, so instead hid in my flat watching Friends with my mate trying to calm the nerves. It didnt work.

It was without doubt the toughest race I’ve done yet. I spent most of it yoyoing off the back, getting whipped around every corner. I told myself I just wanted to last a few laps, and then half of the race, and then make it till a few laps to go. But somehow, I clung on for the whole thing, finishing p21 out of 50 or so starters. I was pretty chuffed to have survived and rolled in with the main bunch.

That gave me some more confidence going into my final two races of the season. The London Academy GP Nat B crit was a few weeks later. I, as seems to be a trend, didn’t have time to warm up or really see the course, but I thought little could be as bad as the speed, the potholes and the corners of Cambridge, so wasn’t too stressed. The race was pretty much the very numerous London Academy girls attacking in turn, with the rest of us on our own trying to cover. I made a few digs but it ultimately came down to a bunch sprint – not ideal for me. I ended up 6th, which I was fairly pleased with considering the field and the fact I was racing solo.

But both the London Academy GP and the Maria Thompson Nat B road race, a week later, have really shown me where my weaknesses lie! I predictably again turned up late, with no time to warm up or have a look at the course, which basically turned out to be one big hill 5 times. Normally, I’d say that wasn’t particularly my strength, but it seemed to be just shallow enough for me to make it over with those more suited to climbing, while simultaneously being long enough that it got rid of a few of the sprinters. I loved this race; the descents were super fast, the field was decent, and the last few laps, with breaks and attacks flying, were super fun. I ended up in the front reduced group coming into the last lap, with around 12 of us left. An attack went a few kms out from the line, and, out of position, I missed it. I was in a pretty good place behind that break of two coming into the finish, but was thwarted again by my utter lack of sprint at the end, coming in 8th. As frustrating as it was, it was still my best position in a Nat B road race, and once I’d stopped being annoyed about being rolled for the second time in a fortnight, I was pretty proud of how far I’d come from the start of the season.

Freya Taylor