Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) was one of the breakthrough riders in the female pro peloton last year and goes into the 2026 season as a much different rider - with a loftier position in the pecking order - than this time 12 months ago.
The first signs of what was to come were on show at UAE Tour, where she proved one of the strongest in the crosswinds and also took her first podium result in a World Tour road race, with 3rd on stage 2.
And it is to that race, starting this Thursday, that the 24-year-old Wicklow rider returns to get her 2026 campaign underway. She will be looking for a stage win and to gauge herself after the winter break from racing.
With the first three stages, of four, set to be fought out over flat terrain, the race offers an invaluable opportunity to Gillespie to get some results in the bag early. Last year's top sprinter, Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime), is also down to start and she will offer formidable opposition in the gallops.
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However, Ireland's Gillespie was getting much closer to Wiebes in the sprints by the end of last season and she will be looking to close the gap further towards getting the better of her at some point this season.
Wiebes has an initial kick that few can live with, though Gillespie was holding her, and in some races gaining ground on her as the line approach late last year. Aside from the sprints, the Irish woman proved something of a natural in the crosswinds last year.
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She made the small front group - numbering just a handful of riders - that went clear in the crosswinds of stage 2 at UAE Tour and stayed away, for over 100km, to the finish. And if she could produce another ride like that, and secure more podium results, that would be a success for her.
Having won the European and world titles in the elimination race on the track last year, Gillespie has decided to forego the Europeans this week in favour of the road, such is her ambition for the spring campaign in particular.
And while UAE Tour is first up and, knowing her, she will be out to win a stage there, the cobbled races on the roads and farm tracks of Belgium and France in the next few months should be really interesting.
She had her first run at a spring campaign on the road last year and did really well; 2nd at Fenix Omloop van het Hageland (1.1), 3rd at Le Samyn des Dames (1.1), 3rd at Danilith Nokere Koerse (1.Pro), 5th at Classic Brugge-De Panne (1.WWT), 6th in Gent-Wevelgem (1.WWT) and 18th on debut at Paris-Roubaix (1.WWT).
Since then has gained considerable experience - after her first full season on the road in Europe, developed significantly as an athlete and improved the quality of her sprint and her positioning.
So, while her progress will be closely tracked by Irish cycling fans any time she races, the spring European campaign may be the time to keep the closest eye on Gillespie. In the meantime, UAE Tour - the country of her team's headline sponsor, and where she will be under some pressure to perform - will be a great place to start.
