The WUC Track Cycling Team sponsored by the Chelmsford branch of Decathlon competed in the BUCS Track Cycling Championships event held at the home of British Cycling, The National Cycling Centre, in Manchester over the 1st and 2nd December 2018. Team members were student cyclists George Beck, James Ambrose-Parish, William Swarbrick and Joshua Griffiths.
The event played host to a multitude of universities across the country including; Loughborough University, University of Bath, University of Nottingham and University of Exeter along with professional riders and commonwealth games medallist, Lewis Olivia.
Day one saw Josh and George competing in the 4km Individual Pursuit posting times of 03:39 and 03:50, and Will and James competing in the Kilo TT posting times of 01:10:78 and James with 01:09:21 securing a top 20 finish.
Day two consisted of the 4km Team Pursuit, 750m Team Sprint, Elimination Race and Points Race. Unfortunately the Team Pursuit suffered a triple mechanical, which after the restart left the team with only 3 riders. The boys still managed to post a 5 second PB putting them at 11th place, so with the full team would have had a shot at qualifying for a bronze medal ride off. The Team Sprint saw riders James, George and Will competing with a strong opening lap putting the team in 2nd place, however the pace dropped off by the third lap and the team finish with a top 10 finish in 9th place. Finally James ended the day with the elimination and point’s race. James finished the point’s race in 16th and successfully qualified for the finals of the elimination race and finished in 15th.
As students of FdSc Cycling Performance at Writtle University College, a course which focuses on the science behind improving cycling performance and facilitating a variety of pathways within the cycling industry, the students have expert guidance from lecturers and coaches and have been fortunate enough to receive local sponsorship by Decathlon in Chelmsford.
After the event Team Captain George Beck was happy with the overall performances of the team, adding “to compete in a national event representing my university against such high class cyclists was a great experience. We are grateful for the support given to us by the University College and our sponsors Decathlon in Chelmsford.”
From left to right: James Ambrose-Parish, William Swarbrick, Joshua Griffiths and George Beck.