FORMER Monmouth School cox Laurence Harvey steered Oxford's boat to a fantastic scalp ahead of taking on Cambridge this weekend in the 160th Boat Race, as they demolished a crew stacked with GB Olympic and world champions.

The Dark Blues put three lengths over the first two-and-a-half miles of the Boat Race course on Leander, who included London 2012 gold medalists Pete Reed and Alex Gregory, and their crewmates from their 2013 GB world champion eight, Dan Ritchie and Will Satch.

This Sunday (6th April) River Wye rowers from Monmouth RC and the town's three rowing schools will be glued to BBC1 in support of the steersman when the Blue boats come under starters' orders at 5.55pm.

Old Monmothian Harvey had GB's Olympic 8s bronze medal strokeman Constantine Louloudis sat opposite him, Canadian Olympic gold and silver medalist Malcolm Harvey at five and Kiwi London 2012 bronze medalist Storm Uru at bow.

And although the crews looked well matched on paper, the Dark Blues on the Middlesex station simply had too much for the Henley-based high-flyers, seizing control on the inside of the first bend from the off.

As Oxford went off rating 44 strokes a minute to Leander's 41, Chepstow's Harvey, 20, urged his men into an immediate lead that had stretched into a length inside a minute-and-a-half and 1 1/4 lengths by the end of Fulham Wall - the point half a mile into the Varsity contest at which Boat Race rowers officially earn their Blue.

World 8s champion strokeman Satch, who took bronze in the pair at London 2012, kept Leander at 36 strokes a minute as Harvey throttled Oxford down to 35, but the GB stars could make no impression on the lead as the Dark Blues went past the Mile Post 2L clear.

By Hammersmith Bridge seven minutes in, the lead was more than 2 1/2 lengths allowing Oxford to take Leander's water on the inside of the Surrey bend.

Holding their rate at 35 as Leander's dropped to 33 in the blustery headwind, the Dark Blues continued to move clear and were totally in control on the line.

Having swapped the two-man since the crew announcement, Oxford president Howard said: "I was happy with our performance. We'd made a crew change, so I'm pleased with the way we bedded in. We stuck to our race plan and did what we set out to do."

Cambridge take on the same Leander boat this week which will give some indication of whether Wales cox Harvey's crew are firm favourites for the 160th Boat Race, despite the Light Blues enjoying a half stone a man weight advantage.

Last year, the Physics undergraduate steered Oxford's reserves to victory over Cambridge's Goldie in the Boat Race curtain raiser.

And he will be hoping for more of the same in the last holding of the 185-year-old clash on Sunday before the Women's Boat Race joins the men's contest on the Thames at Putney next year.

The BNY Mellon Boat Race attracts 250,000 people to the banks of the Thames, while 100 million worldwide tune in on TV and radio.