The dark blues achieved a strong start to the 2018/19 BUCS season despite the absence of seasoned BUCS hill climb competitors. Five athletes took on the iconic Category 3 Climb of Barber Booth to Mam Tor, an ascent with a maximum gradient of 18% and 10% average over 1.3 miles.

Depleted by injury and freshers’ flu, the women’s team consisted of just one rider, Cyndi Goh, who took a respectable 20th in the women’s field.

Fresher Will Allen was first from the men’s team to ride, placing in the top quarter of the field at 51st place, a notable achievement given he has only recently started cycling. Following a strong performance at a local hill climb, Seb Morton placed at 95th, within the first half of the field.

Seasoned road racer Julian Roche put in an excellent performance, completing the climb in 6:49 to take 13th place. With all but one rider left to start, the Oxford team joined their light blue counterparts near the top of the hill to cheer on their final team mate.

National Hill Climb 2016 junior champion Harvey Weinberger rounded up the Oxford team’s performance, finishing at 8th place, a commendable performance given he has dedicated himself to national level road racing over the past season with the Zero BC Development Squad.  The Oxford men’s team of Weinberger, Roche and Allen took 7th place out of a total of 35 men’s teams, a performance we hope to build on for the BUCS season ahead.