Ireland's Gillespie gets closer to Wiebes in latest head-to-head | Video

Winner Lorena Wiebes, the world's best sprinter, and runner-up Lara Gillespie were streets ahead of the opposition in the final sprint in Belgium today (Photo: Aymeric Lassak)

Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) may have one eye firmly fixed on the upcoming UCI World Track Championships in Chile, but she was in action again on the road today and scored her latest big result.

She claimed 2nd place at Belgian one-day Binche Chimay Binche pour Dames (1.1) and though she was beaten again by the world's top sprinter, Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx - Protime), Gillespie is getting closer to her Dutch rival.

Indeed, when Wiebes made her final move in sprint, over cobbles in Binche today, Gillespie may have done even better had she been slightly better positioned.

Instead, she was side-by-side with Franziska Koch (Team Picnic PostNL), with the German and Irish riders competing for the wheel as Wiebes pulled the trigger.

Often, when Wiebes kicks, the gap to her rivals opens instantly and continues to widen all the way to the line. This time, however, though Gillespie was gapped a little by her rival's initial kick, she then sprinted just as fast as her to the line.

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The gap between the duo never grew further, perhaps closing a little in the last few metres, as the duo left everyone else in the gallop for dust.

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Wiebes, who is still just 26-years-old, was taking the 118th victory of her career and her 25th of the season; a remarkable record. In the second race in succession Wiebes has pushed Gillespie into 2nd place as they were also 1-2 at La Choralis Fourmies Féminine (1.Pro) in France four weeks ago, the day after Gillespie had won A Travers les Hauts de France (1.1).

Today, after 121.4km of action, the fight for victory came down to a sprint from a 30-rider group, of 140 starters.

The only other Irish rider in the race, and a team mate of Gillespie's at the upcoming track Worlds, Emma Jeffers was a non-finisher on a day when she was called up from the Liv AlUla Jayco UCI Continental team to the World Tour team.

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