Mia Griffin and Alice Sharpe were in the mix at the pointy end of Spar Flanders Diamond Tour (1.1) in Belgium yesterday, placing 11th and 13th respectively, on the same time as winner Chiara Consonni (Valcar-Travel & Service).
The 136.6km race, starting and finishing in Nijlen, was run over a flat circuit and proved to be a war of attrition, with the field being whittled down each lap and numbering 85 riders, of 150 starters, by the finish.
Sharpe and Griffin, riding for Continental team IBCT this year, had team mate Svenja Betz in a three-rider breakaway for a period. However, those escapees were unable to hold off the main field, paving the way for a sprint from a reduced peloton.
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Race winner Consonni was part of the Italian Madison partnership, with world road race champion Elisa Balsamo, that won gold at the recent UCI Nations Cup in Milton, Canada, where Griffin and Sharpe put in a very strong performance to take the bronze medal.
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Yesterday Consonni won ahead of Marthe Truyen (Plantur-Pura) and Georgia Danford (Andy Schleck - CP NVST - Immo Losch). Griffin's 11th place followed on from her 49th in Dwars door het Hageland (1.1) on Saturday.
Sharpe also rode that race in Belgium on Saturday and placed 17th at one minute as the whole field split to pieces and finished in ones and twos. That strong weekend in Belgium comes a fortnight after she finished 15th overall at RideLondon Classique, a three-day World Tour stage race.
