Lara Gillespie has made some changes of late and they are clearly making a difference. With more time to focus on the road, and having come through the invaluable experience an Olympic Games offers any athlete, she's taken another big step forward already this year.
We had plenty of evidence of that before her epic final at Le Samyn des Dames on Tuesday, to take 3rd. She began 2025 at UAE Tour, proving among the very strongest to claim her first World Tour podium and a classification win. Then came gold in the elimination race at the Europeans in Zolder before 2nd at Fenix Omloop van het Hageland (1.1) last weekend.
At Le Samyn (1.1) she found herself, it appeared, hopelessly detached from the leaders with just 2km to go after a mishap. But she blasted across the gap solo and still had the beans for 3rd in the sprint, won by Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx Protime). So does Gillespie feel she's stepped up a level so far this year?
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"Yeah definitely," she told stickybottle. "I had a really good winter with the team and my new coach. And with the (Irish) track cycling team, it's also a bit different because I'm not doing the team pursuit training camps. So I'm getting more hours in (on the road) and that has definitely helped.
"I just think I've had the best support I could possibly dream of with the team, and also with the national team. And even with Sport Ireland and everyone... I've really felt the belief this last while.
"I've just had very little stress, and I've been able to get the work done in a really enjoyable way. It feels like I'm having fun. Every day is fun, but it's also a lot of hard work. But it just doesn't feel like hard work.
"I'm really happy I chose to stay with this team. I'm based in Germany (in Kaiserslautern, not far from the French boarder) with my boyfriend. So I'm driving to the Belgian races, which is nice. Instead of going on lots of flights, I'm actually getting two extra days of training in each week on these multiple race weeks."
It's easy to take for granted, even overlook, the fact Gillespie is doing things few Irish riders, male or female, ever have. Her elite European title was a first for an Irish rider. The fact she went into Le Samyn as team leader in a World Tour outfit is a status few Irish riders have enjoyed, especially aged 23 years.
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Gillespie was quick to thank her team mates for their work on Tuesday, saying they performed on the front to keep her at the head of affairs, especially on the climbs and cobbles. When eventual winner, Wiebes, launched attacks, Gillespie was in a position to respond because her team had placed her there, she said.
And when other moves went, the team covered them; all the while keeping their leader near the front and out of trouble in a "hectic" race.
As the field split to pieces and a lead group formed in the final, Gillespie was there, around the front. Until she wasn't. Though she was sure to be in the top five each lap on the final cobble sector inside the last 2km, she was forced to react to a near crash just 7km from the finish.
Though she stayed upright, that corrective action saw her slip to the very back. And when the group split last time just before the cobbles, Gillespie was in the wrong half. SD Worx were ripping it up on the front up ahead at the time.
When Gillespie got back onto the tarmac she just went for it; drilling it and riding away from everyone she was with; getting across to the leaders with 1km to go. She then got into the fight to see who could take the back wheel of Wiebes, before eventually claiming 3rd behind the European champion - and Linda Zanetti (Uno-X Mobility).
"I felt good at the end, so it was still fine and I'm still learning how to race the final bit as a leader," she said of battling back into contention before being able to muster a sprint.
Her fight for the wheel of Wiebes involved a little argy-bargy with those around her. And while that wasn't exactly crazy, it was a mark of her mindset in the final; fighting to get all she could front her opportunity.
"I'm learning to be a bit more... 'okay, this is my place, and I deserve to be here'," she explains. "So I'm not gonna let anyone push me out of the way; that was that. I knew the girls had done such a big job and I was just happy to finish it off.
"And after three days of full gas races in four days it was a good finish. I feel like I have the legs for the future, I just need to get my instincts going."
