Cycle of Success
Oxford, led by Danny Axford (St Cross) dominated BUSA cycling events this season, making them one of the University's most successful teams.
While others were throwing themselves off Magdalen Bridge on May Day morning, the cycling team were winning the Men's Varsity match, to cap a superb season in which they also achieved individual and team golds in the BUSA ten-mile time trial and hill climb.
Oxford hosted the BUSA 25-mile time trial event near Aldermaston, into which the Varsity event was incorporated. Competitors rode alone over a 25-mile course. They set off at one-minute intervals, and the team result was decided by the aggregate time of the fastest three riders from each university.
In the individual event, Danny Axford posted a time of 52:01 (29 mph average) to win the individual BUSA event by over a minute from Gary McKeegan of Ulster. Alex Rowe (Queen's) won the BUSA bronze in 54:15 and fresher Tim Wallis (Lincoln) finished 5th in 54:46. This superb result, with 3 riders in the top 5, meant that Oxford triumphed in the BUSA competition by a huge margin of over nine minutes from second-placed team Loughborough. Cambridge came in a close third, conceding the Varsity Title to Oxford for the second year running. The Oxford team's time was only 44 seconds short of the Varsity record set in 1997 by Cambridge, who have dominated the competition for extended periods, holding a 36-11 lead in the Varsity match.
The Varsity win follows Axford's victory in the BUSA 10-mile time trial hosted by Cambridge the week before. Alex Rowe and John Tuckett (Worcester) also contributed to the team gold.
The BUSA win completed a personal treble for Axford, who had also taken gold in the BUSA hill climb last autumn, when he teamed up with Alex Rowe and Ian Shapiro (Wolfson) to complete another Oxford victory.
The women were unfortunate not to emulate their male team mates, as they were denied a Varsity win by an excellent performance from Cambridge's Rachel Horn, whose gold medal-winning ride ensured Varsity victory for Cambridge over Oxford riders Helen Haworth (Linacre), Kat Smart (St Anne's) and Marilena De Luca (Trinity).
The cycling club is thriving and has been the largest team at all the BUSA events it has entered this year. Many riders have scored personal best times in these opening events of 2004, and all will be hoping to carry this form through to the road racing season, which is currently gathering pace. Riders of all abilities will be competing in races throughout the summer, including a BUSA road race in three weeks' time in Warwickshire.
6th May 2004