Lara Gillespie has made the tough decision to withdraw from the National Criterium Championships in favour of preparing for bigger goals just around the corner (Photo: Aymeric Lassak)
Though Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) had entered the National Criterium Championships in Dublin tomorrow, Sunday, she was maintaining an open mind about whether she would ride the race, especially with major goals to come.
The nine-stage Giro d'Italia Women (2.WWT) gets underway in Cesenatico, on the Adriatic coast, exactly two weeks from today, meaning preparation for Gillespie and the other riders is already well advanced.
And so with the Giro now very much on the horizon, she has decided to keep her powder dry and not take to the start line for the Irish title race tomorrow at Grand Canal Dock.
The Wicklow woman – a senior world and European title winner on the track - has opted to give tomorrow's race a miss for good reason as she zones in on a piece of Irish cycling history.
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The Giro will hold high stakes for her as she will have a very strong chance of taking her first Grand Tour stage win, something an Irish woman has never done.
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Her absence tomorrow is a real shame, of course, but as a top pro rider she must put her pro racing goals, and her team’s ambitions, first.
There is also still an awful lot of talent in the men's and women's fields set to fight it out for the medals tomorrow.
The fact Gillespie is now out of the race throws it open, with last year's winner Aine Doherty (Dan Morrissey Pissei) among those taking to the start line tomorrow.
We'll have a women's preview shortly and you can read our preview of the men's race by following this link.
The full schedule is as follows:
- 10:00am Road Closed
- 10:15am Masters support race (45 minutes plus 3 laps)
- 11:15am Paracycling and Family cycle
- 12:00 noon U12 Boys and Girls support race (5 laps)
- 12:20pm U14 and U16 Girls support race (15 minutes plus 3 laps)
- 12:45pm Open Practice
- 1pm Women’s National Criterium Championship (1hr plus 5 laps)
- 2:20pm Brompton Race
- 2:45pm Open Practice
- 3pm U14 Boys support race (15 minutes plus 3 laps)
- 3:30pm U16 Boys support race (25 minutes plus 3 laps)
- 4:05pm Open Practice
- 4:20pm Men's National Criterium Championship (1hr plus 5 laps)
- 6pm Road re-opens
The men's championship race is for junior, senior and masters riders. There will also be a team category, though it will only be awarded if at least three teams, of three riders, enter the race.
The women's championship race is also for senior, junior and masters riders, and the same stipulation applies to the awarding of a team national title prize - gold medals - for the winners; three teams must enter.
