Ireland’s Mia Griffin and Imogen Cotter were among the finishers at the opening race of the 2021 Lotto Cycling Cup in Belgium today.
The two Irish women dug in hard at Ronde de Mouscron (1.1) on a day when 84 riders, more than half the
field, were non finishers.
Griffin said the
conditions were “savage” as racing was run off in “snow and wind”, adding she was pleased to get another finish
into her legs in what is her first season racing the pro circuit in Europe.
“It was
pretty relentless from the start,” she said. “The bigger teams were on the
front going into the corners and making the bunch really strung out all day
long.
“In the first hour it was quiet chaotic, with bad road surfaces and slows and sprints. I was cramping in the last 25km and really struggled with it but I kept the head down and suffered it out.”
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The 121.2km race was contested over 10
laps of an undulating course in Mouscron on the Belgian-French border. And
while it came down to a group sprint, it was a war of attrition with more and
more riders being dropped every lap.
Chiara Consonni, a 21-year-old Italian riding for Valcar-Travel & Service took the victory in a sprint from Jelena
Erić (Movistar) and Maria Martins (Drops-Le
Col).
Griffin (Team Rupelcleaning) finished just 46 seconds down in 75th place, as what remained of the peloton split a little in the final run in to the finish.
That was a very strong ride by Griffin,
last year’s individual pursuit bronze medalist at the U23 European Track
Championships.
Cotter, who is riding on the road this year for her Belgian team Keukens Redant Cycling and for Movistar’s eRacing team, was 4:47 down in 80th place.
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