Caoimhe O'Brien, the Irish U23 champion riding for US-Continental team Cynisca Cycling this year, is hoping to bounce back quickly after sustaining tricky crash injuries while racing in Belgium.
O'Brien, who has represented Ireland on the road to World Championships level, claimed a stage victory at Rás na mBan last year before making her Worlds debut in the elite-U23 race in Zürich.
Looking to hit the ground running this year, she lined out at Vuelta CV Feminas (1.Pro) a month ago to get her season underway with a promising 19th. However, her most recent competitive outing was a bit more dramatic, with O'Brien forced onto the sidelines for a time as a result.
She crashed very hard at Le Samyn des Dames (1.1) last Tuesday, doing damage to her shoulder, forcing her out of the event, which meant no racing last weekend.
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O'Brien said while she had been looking forward to racing again in Belgium, her first race the Saturday before last - Fenix Omloop van het Hageland (1.1) - did not go according to plan as she had to endure mechanical issues.
"By the time I got going after the bike change I was just too far behind to get myself back into the race," she said. "After a disappointing Hageland I was ready to give everything in Le Samyn which lived up to be a very hectic race.
"It was a pretty relentless race, with everybody fighting for position. As the race progressed I was feeling confident in myself and I was determined to get a good result.
"But then around 40km to go, two girls came down in front of me and I just had no time to react. Fortunately, I didn’t break anything, but I landed directly on my shoulder and have done a bit of damage.
"I also hit my head but I’ve been doing everything I can to make sure that it heals but I should be grand. Luckily I shouldn’t be out for too long but I’ll probably have another few days on the turbo until I recover a bit more."
