BUCS Road Race, 18 May 2025

BUCS (British Universities and College Sport) Road Race was my second road race of the year, and with a small group and a challenging parcours we had a tough day ahead.

After a delayed start due to a crash in the men’s race in front of us, our group of 19 took on 2 laps of a 28 mile circuit. My goals were to work on moving around the group, and make sure I was second or third wheel going into a section of road with an extremely bad road surface, to keep out of trouble.

The pace was very calm in the first lap, no one wanting to risk a long range attack, so I had time to work on moving around the group, and managed to get myself second wheel into the pothole sector. We got through that fine and I focused on positioning myself near the front for the rest of the lap.

The first attack came on a steep incline, with a group of riders going a few bike lengths clear. I put in a big effort to go with the group, and managed to get onto the wheel and sit in over the top of the climb. Unfortunately it went downhill from here – I’d put myself in the red and when the next attack came my legs said no. I was distanced and with no wheel near enough to catch I was on my own for the second lap. A 28-mile tempo effort followed, trying to keep the pace up to the finish.

I finished 15th overall, with some good and bad things to take away and work on. Looking forward to my next outing at Regional Champs.

Tilly Gurney