A Club Steeped in History
Velo Club Venta takes its name from Venta Belgarum, the name of the Roman town where Winchester now stands. Formed in 1970, we are proud to be part of Winchester’s organised cycling heritage that can be traced back to the end of World War II. Take a look at the timeline below to see how the club has evolved.
Pre Velo Club Venta
Cycling clubs in Winchester existed long before Velo Club Venta was formed in 1970. The name Venta was first associated with cycling in the city when the Venta Olympic Road Cycling Club was formed in 1952. Founder member of Venta Olympic Roger Coombes recalls,
"In about 1951 a group mainly of students from Peter Symonds school had started riding our bikes together and on Sports Day we somehow got permission to organize a time trial on the roads around the school.
The time trial was a great success, attracted more people and we then started a few of our own time trials.
Peter Churchill and Mike Warder were a year ahead of most of us in school. Peter somehow knew about Percy Stallard and the newly formed BLRC and the two of them suggested we form a club, join the league and start with some proper road racing.
This was a time when there was a lot of antagonism between the league and the NCU, so we would call out “Up the League” to a passing league rider but look the other way when passing a Union rider.
Sometime in 1952 we had a meeting in my mum’s living room at 46, Quarry Road and formed a club. I came up with the name Venta, and although most of us didn’t like it Peter Churchill insisted on Olympic and since he was our mentor we accepted it.
As far as I remember the people at that meeting were: Peter Churchill, Mike Warder, me (Roger Coombes), Bob Hine, Jonny Carter, Mike Allison, Stuart Collins and a couple of others whose names I don’t remember.
For a few years we raced quite successfully as juniors, Bo Collins was a great sprinter and I was a climber but also his lead-out man. He won a lot of races and I got a lot of placings.
Based on my results, in 1956 when I turned 18 I was suddenly made a Cat 2 Senior
Most of my teammates were Cat 3 so I rode solo to a few races. But racing 120 miles alone, against riders coming off the Tour of Britain was too much for me so I quit riding completely and lost contact with the club."
Roger re-joined Velo Club Venta as a member in 2024 despite now being based in the US, and having only got back in to cycling in 2000. He has even returned to competition despite now being in his mid 80's, winning some races at the 2023 Huntsmans World Senior Games.
Club Success
The formation and growth of Velo Club Venta was a slow process, but following a number of years of steady growth sponsorship from Wessex Windows and Interstyle Bedrooms between 1987 and 2003 saw the Club thrive. The Venta Race Team was formed and had success at national level.
In 1993, VC Venta’s Danny Axford won the Peter Buckley National Junior Road Race Series, an event won subsequently by Bradley Wiggins four years later. In 1999 VC Venta had wins at the National Schools Circuit Championships (Andy Gough) and the National Schools Team Time trials.
Chris Hughes – who is still a VC Venta member – won Silver at the National Schools Circuit Championships in 1994. After a number of years racing at Elite Level, Chris also raced for the French team, Union Cycliste Nord 87, in Limoges between March and October 1999.
Closer to home, the Club ran regular competitive events at Thruxton motor racing circuit and annual events such as the De Mayo Road Race in Winchester.
The Quiet Years
The end of Club sponsorship in 2003 reflected the generally quieter times at the Club. Many younger riders had a wealth of other options to race elsewhere and the Club’s membership dwindled. At one point the option to merge with Southampton based Sotonia Cycling Club was considered.
Rapid Growth in 2010's
Jump forward a few years and Velo Club Venta partly on the back of the London 2012 Olympics, like many cycling clubs across the country enjoyed rapid growth in its membership. Many new members started to enjoy cycling and support remained from older members who had kept the club going through quieter times.
A strong sporting ethos remained though, and in 2018 and 2019 the club had a ladies team (Imogen Hutchings, Laura Fenwick, Ashia Fenwick, Clare Parkin and Liz Pressage) competing in the domestic Tour Series which was televised by ITV. National Championship jerseys were won by Nick Tarmey in 2022 at the National 24 hour time trial championships and Alex Murphy in 2024 winning the National junior closed circuit championship jersey with many other members achieving further success in regional and national competition.
Today we are affiliated to all the major racing organisations and cater for every type of cyclist. We also run our own British Cycling Go-Ride Programme, which is a British Cycling youth development programme to teach the skills and pass on our enthusiasm to new generations of cyclists.
Honorary Life Members
The club is only as strong as our members and volunteers who invest so much of their time and effort in making Velo Club Venta the inclusive club that exists today. We like to celebrate the significant contribution made to club life by offering Honorary Life Memberships to a handful of members who have given so much to the club. Current Honorary Life Members of the club are:
19?? - Raymond Hughes
2022 - Michele Holloway
2023 - Chris Hutchings
2024 - Crispin Quail