Mia Griffin has taken her first result in a European pro road race after combining well today with Alice Sharpe in the finale of stage 2 at Kreiz Breizh Elites Dames (2.2) in France.
It was a very good day for the Irish team as Megan Armitage also spent a lot of the 133.6km stage into Ploumagoar in a breakaway which was only caught late in the day.
The stage, the second of two in the French two-day race, eventually ended in a big bunch sprint won by Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma); the 22-year-old British rider who also claimed yesterday's opening stage.
While today's stage featured four categorised climbs before five laps of a finishing circuit, it did not split the way yesterday's opening stage had. When the finale came down to a sprint former national champion led out Griffin for that sprint.
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Griffin managed to get into the top 10 on the stage, with 9th place, while Sharpe was just behind her in 12th.
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Three other Irish riders were also in the main bunch today; Armitage in 29th, Caoimhe O'Brien in 39th and Imogen Cotter placing 45th. Unfortunately first-year U23 rider Lucy O'Donnell was among the 18 non-finishers today.
Armitage experienced more than her fair share of drama today after being caught up in a crash in the first 30km of the stage. While that incident meant she was off the back for a period, the 24-year-old mounted a chase and got back into the group.
Later in the stage she got into the breakaway and spent much of the day up the road; that group only caught with one of the finishing circuits remaining.
Henderson won the race overall, from Floortje Mackaij (Team DSM), Anouska Koster (Jumbo-Visma) and Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM); the top four on all the same time as they formed the winning move yesterday.
Sharpe was Ireland's best finisher overall in 22nd place at 4:09, with Armitage 23rd at 5:08. Cotter was 48th at 6:13 while Griffin was 66th at 13:22 and O'Brien placed 69th at 14:38.
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