Alice Sharpe gets to grips with the pavé riding at pro level in Belgium this week. It was a world away from the team pursuit with Ireland on the track at the Worlds just days earlier. But she put in a very good ride (Photos by Philippe Seys)
Fresh from breaking the Irish team pursuit record at the World Track Championships, Alice Sharpe was in action on the road with her new pro team just days later.
Sharpe raced at the Worlds in Poland yesterday week – Wednesday, February 27th. But only three days later, last Saturday, she rode the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad pro classic in Belgium.
She understandably abandoned that event but 72 hours later lined out in Tuesday’s Le Samyn de Dames, another Belgian professional classic.
And despite coming off the back of her track season, which concluded at the Worlds, she had already discovered her road racing legs and took a very solid result.
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Riding in the colours of her new pro trade team, UCI WCC, she finished in 40th place; part of a large group that was sprinting for 8th on the day.
That sprint from Sharpe’s 55-rider group was taken by Marta Bastianelli (Team Virtu), the former world road race champion and reigning European champion.
Sharpe, far left with her team at the start of Samyn des Dames. The European champion wins the gallop in the group Alice Sharpe finished with.
The race was won solo by Jip van den Bos (Boels-Dolmans). She had 56 seconds to spare over a group of six chasers, with Sharpe’s group a further 40 seconds back.
After 2½ hours riding across the pavé of Belgium in the company of many of the best riders in the world, the Irish rider had every reason to be happy, especially as her track racing was hardly ideal preparation.
But now with two races under her belt in the colours of the UCI’s World Cycling Centre pro women’s team, Alice Sharpe is looking forward to a full road season in the pro game.
“Le Samyn was my second race with the team and it was a baptism of fire after the track season,” she confirmed to stickybottle.
“But it was good to get back into the bunch and kick start the road season.
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“The race was tough; lots of challenging cobbled sectors and crosswinds which split the peloton up.
“This week was my first experience of real Belgium cobbles. They take some getting used to.
“But with some more Belgium races planned this season there is plenty of room for improvement.”
Above, a picture of focus on the cobbles. Tucked in behind her team mate.
Alice Sharpe continued of Le Samyn: “The team rode really well and we got Tenele Campbell, our sprinter, a top 20 finish after crashing on lap two on the longest of the cobbled sectors.
“I’m really excited to be racing alongside such a talented group of girls and to learn and develop my skills.”
Next on the agenda, Sharpe will partner fellow Irish international team pursuiter Mia Griffin at the Manchester Six Day.
That takes place at the end of the month before Sharpe then heads back to Belgium to ride the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, April 7th.
“I’ll then spend the rest of the summer based at the UCI centre in Aigle with the team,” she said of the squad which will ride a full calendar of pro road races.
“It’s been a crazy year and I’m so great full of all the opportunities, advice and coaching I’ve received,” she added.
“I joined the team pursuit program in January last year and we spent all year learning the race craft and gaining experience at world cups.
“To be able to finish the year with a personal best and a top ten at the Worlds was amazing.
“It was great to see the entire Irish team achieving incredible results at the worlds; it gives us so much motivation ahead of next winter’s world cups.”
Sharpe added the team pursuit line-up would now go their separate ways and focus on their own goals until late in the summer.
They would then regroup for an extended Irish camp in Mallorca with a view to building towards the Europeans and the 2019-2020 season of UCI World Cups.
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