Cycling Ireland has gone with a very interesting Irish team selection for the upcoming Rás na mBan, Ireland’s premier elite women’s race.
Junior riders Maeve Gallagher (Castlebar CC) and Lara
Gillespie (Scott Orwell) are both named in the team to battle against the domestic
and international elite women.
They are in a line-up with three very experienced
campaigners that they can learn a lot from, including national champion Alice
Sharpe who is riding in the pro ranks with the UCI women’s team this year.
Katharine Smyth (Ballymena RC) has enjoyed a fantastic
season, taking a brilliant bronze and the masters gold at the national road championships
in Derry, and she is also in the Irish team.
The five-rider national outfit is completed by Grace
Young; the Strata 3-VeloRevolution rider having been one of the riders of the
National Road Series since the start of the campaign.
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Sharpe is a potential winner of the race and has shown
repeatedly this year that she can more than hold her own riding against her
fellow professionals in Europe.
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It will be very interesting to see how Gillespie and
Gallagher perform; the former coming off a track focus of late.
She took bronze in the individual pursuit at the Worlds
and also claimed three silver medals at the Europeans on the boards.
However, Rás na mBan should prove very good preparation for
the World Road Championships in Yorkshire.
Gallagher is also in the team for the Worlds and has already
shown her climbing prowess by winning the junior road race title, from
Gillespie, last month.
She has continued her focus on both cycling and triathlon
this year and is an international in both codes.
It means she goes into Rás na mBan, which she impressed
in last year, with plenty of endurance in her legs and as an exciting prospect.
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