Imogen Cotter is set to ride the Tour of Flanders this weekend after being offered a stagiaire with a pro team and being immediately called up for the iconic Belgian classic.
Irish rider Cotter has secured a stagiaire, or trial, with Ciclotel for what remains of the season. It is a UCI-ranked pro team that already counts former Irish road race champion Alice Sharpe in its ranks.
Last summer Sharpe and Cotter went clear in the elite women’s road race at the National Road Championships in Derry to take gold and silver.
And now they will become team mates on Sunday as both have been named on the Ciclotel team for the Tour of Flanders.
Sharpe and Cotter will be making history on Sunday as they are the first Irish women to ever ride the race, which is one of the biggest events in world cycling and has taken on iconic status in the sport, especially in Belgium.
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Sharpe, a 26-year-old road and track international for
Ireland, limbered up for Sunday’s 135.6km race, which starts and finishes in Oudenaarde, by riding last weekend’s Gent Wevelgem.
She is also a member of the Irish team pursuit line-up
that has repeatedly lowered the national record over the past two years and has
qualified from the second round at World Cups and at the World Track Championships.
However, while 27-year-old Cotter, a late-comer to cycling, has based herself in Europe this season with Keukens Redant, Sunday will be her debut at this level.
She took a great win in Zolder earlier this year ahead of some big name riders, which clearly caught the eye of Ciclotel.
Cotter also faced a prolonged break in racing due to Covid-19 but has done enough to get called up to Ciclotel and secure a place in their starting line-up on Sunday.
Cotter and Sharpe will go up against the biggest teams in the world in Flanders including Mitchelton-Scott, FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope, Trek-Segafredo, CCC Liv, Movistar, Team Sunweb, Boels - Dolmans and Lotto-Soudal.
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