Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) has been forced out of the National Road Championships due to crash injuries that have ruled her out of action for now.
The Wicklow woman, who won the elite women's road title two years ago and was elite cyclocross champion as a 16-year-old, had entered both today's TT in Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, and the road race in Yellow Furze, Co Meath, on Saturday.
However, she has confirmed she will not be traveling to the races due to the crash injuries, outlining to stickybottle the nature of the problem.
Gillespie crashed during her last year, Elmos Dwars door het Hageland (1.1) in Belgium the week before last, on a day when the riders tackled a mixed terrain course which featured cobbles and dirt tracts as well as a conventional tarmac surface.
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Though she crashed in the event, she was able to get back on her bike and continue, making the front group and finishing 12th, just 13 seconds behind winner Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime).
However, while Gillespie was able to finish on the day, she got a serious knocked in that crash and has been suffering from lingering injuries over the past 12 days.
Though she, thankfully, suffered no broken bones, she sustained severe bruising to her sacrum, a large triangular bone located at the base of the spine, with fluid in the area as a result of the injury.
Though Gillespie's absence will be a loss to the weekend of racing, there is a bumper few days of action in store and hopefully we will see her in action very quickly.
