Alice Sharpe was Ireland's sole representative in the women's road race at the European Games in Minsk.
Alice Sharpe has put in a solid ride in the green of Ireland at the European Games in Belarus.
She finished in the bunch after the action unfolded on a lackluster course that did not lend itself to dramatic racing.
The 120km event was run over a 15km mainly flat and technical course, with three riders breaking clear and then being caught, paving the way for a bunch sprint.
Hannah Ludwig (Germany), Omer Shapira (Israel) and Hanna Tserakh (Belarus) gained over two minutes at one point out front.
However, with just one modest cobbled climb on the course the likelihood was a bunch sprint.
And so it came to pass; the Dutch riders carrying out a controlled chase and bringing back the escapees for the last lap.
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One the race was all together again, Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) put in a hard dig that split the field, though Sharpe survived in the front section of about 30 women.
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Once that attack was neutralised the Dutch then settled on a bunch sprint as their favoured outcome.
In the kick to the line it was a Dutch 1-2; Lorena Wiebes winning from Marianne Vos. Tatsiana Sharakova (Belarus) was 3rd and Alice Barnes (Great Britain) was 4th.
Sharpe sprinted in for 25th place, just 11 seconds down
on the winner as small gaps opened in the bunch at the finish.
“It was good; it was a bit of a weird race,” said Sharpe after the event. “I thought it was going to split up a bit more and go harder from the start.
“But it was a bit stop starty, with three up the road with a two minute gap at one point.
“They left it late to bring it back, but I think they did it in a lap in the end. The Dutch were just there driving it on the front.
“So I just sat in and hid and waited for the finish,” said Sharpe, adding the course did little to make for a better race.
“It was a bit more like a kermesse or a crit. And it was quite flat so that made it more stop-starty.
“If anyone made an attack it was neutralised by the fact there was a corner, and then the bunch were able to kick hard through the corners.”
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