Lara Gillespie has added to her already spectacular success in cycling over the last few years with victory in the elite women’s race at the National Road Championships today in Knockaderry, Co Limerick.
While the finish came down to a sprint from a bunch that
perhaps doesn’t tell the story of the title race; run off in breezy conditions
and with attacks going in all day.
The teenager riding with UCD Cycling Club, having secured a scholarship with the Dublin university, also had it all do to do beat those she arrived at the finish with in the Newcastle West Wheelers promotion under race director Liam Collins.
Eve McCrystal (Strata 3-VeloRevolution) won the title
back in 2018 with a brilliant sprint from the group and she pressed Gillespie
hardest today, but had to be content with silver.
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While now aged 42 years, the Louth rider seems to be stronger than ever; putting in a fantastic ride at last Thursday’s TT to win the title by a huge margin; her first gold in that event after taking silver and bronze on five previous occasions.
The next challenger home today was Ellen McDermott; the
Team Boompods rider who won the elite criterium crown last year never easy to
beat in a fast finish.
However, Gillespie saw them off with a very powerful
sprint though she thought her chance had gone due to poor position just before
the final kick for the chequered flat.
“It was intense from the beginning of the race, there was
a group off the front,” Gillespie said of a championship field that was strong
across the board.
“We were coming up the hill and with about 500 metres to
go it just felt like it was going on for ages, it was a really good race.
Gillespie continued: “So many strong women out today, I am just really surprised that I won. I am so proud, I worked so hard all year."
“I was so disappointed after the TT - I was really motivated,” she added of finishing outside the medals last Thursday in 6th place.
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“The last kilometre was very tactical,” Gillespie said of
today’s finale with a gold medal on the line.
“Everyone was watching each other, I thought I was in a
rubbish position and there were nearly a few crashes.
“I just got a gap on the outside and I went for it. It felt way longer than I thought but luckily it went well.”
While still a teenager, Gillespie has an incredible number of medals in her palmares.
Back in April, 2018, when she won four titles at the National Junior Track Championships that brought to 11 the number of titles she held at that time.
One of those 11 titles was the elite cyclocross crown which she won in early 2018 though she had only just moved out of the U16 ranks to junior.
At the time she still held six of the titles she won in 2017 as an U16 including being the road race, TT and criterium races.
Since then her wins include the Irish junior road race title, in 2018, and a second victory in the elite cyclocross championships, in 2019, and four more national junior track titles, also in 2019.
On the international scene, Gillespie won three silver medals at the junior track Europeans
in 2019; in the points race, individual pursuit and scratch race.
To add to those medals secured in Gent, Belgium, she then
went on to the junior track Worlds in Frankfurt, Germany in 2019, and won bronze in the pursuit.
And in 2018 as a first year junior she was crowned European points race champion and she also claimed silver in the individual pursuit at the Europeans.
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