HUGO HOPES HIS FINALE IS BRIDGE TOO FAR FOR RIVALS

THE BOAT RACE

CAMBRIDGE president Hugo Ramambason is determined to break his Boat Race duck and sign off with victory today.

The 21-year-old coxed reserve crew Goldie in defeats in 2015 and 2016, before taking the seat for the main race won by Oxford last year.

Today represents his final chance to taste success on the four-and-aquarter-mile course along the Thames between Putney and Mortlake. “It’s been a year of hard work, ups and downs, moments of doubt,” said Ramambason (above, right). “Sometimes it almost feels like race day is all people see, they forget there has been a full year, two sessions a day, a lot of stress.

“And for me, personally, I haven’t won a race before, so it would mean everything for me to cap off my time with a win.”

Cambridge are big favourites to win, and Oxford were not helped when they were forced into a late reshuffle with Benedict Aldous stepping up from Isis to replace the powerful Josh Bugajski following an illness. Oxford coach Sean Bowden said: “They’ve been ahead of us all year, but we will do what we can to turn that around.

“We don’t look at the odds. Some crews have a bigger chance than others, but it’s not the hand you’ve got, it’s how well you play it.” Coverage on BBC1 from 3.50pm