Alice Sharpe has put in a strong performance in the elite women's road race at the European Championships in Germany today, finishing in the bunch numbering fewer than 60 riders at the end of 128km of racing into Munich.
“It was kind of as expected. I thought it would come down to a sprint, but it was quite stressy over all of the climbs," said Sharpe.
"There was a lot of pushing and shoving in the peloton and fighting for a position pretty much all day. But it came down to a sprint in the end which I was expecting.
“I basically wanted to jump on the back of someone’s lead out train, I’d say I didn’t really quite do that, I was jumping people near the finish. I kind of lost my position going around that last bend on the Munich version of the l'Arc de Triomphe but yes, I’m happy enough."
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Despite the best efforts of some of the teams to split the race - including a breakaway that gained two minutes at one point - the Dutch team was influential in controlling the racing. They pulled back the main breakaway and when a late three-rider move went clear -Juliette Labous (France), Lea Lin Teutenberg (Germany) and Sheyla Gutierrez (Spain) - the Dutch reeled them in just before the finish.
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That set up the anticipated bunch sprint, with the dominant sprinter of the year Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) just about getting the better of world champion Elisa Balsamo (Italy), with Rachele Barbieri (Italy) taking bronze.
Sharpe finished in 29th place and was 10 seconds down on the winner after gaps opened in the main field in the final push to the line. She was the only Irish rider in the race today as Mia Griffin, who was also selected, did not start due to a shoulder injury sustained while racing in the track at the Europeans last week.
