Lara Gillespie battles back from crash to make front group in Belgium | Video

Lara Gillespie put up a determined fight at Dwars door het Hageland during 124.6km over mixed terrain, including gravel and dirt tracks (Photo: Luc Claessen-Getty Images)

Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) has battled back from a crash to make the front group at Dwars door het Hageland during 124.6km over mixed terrain, including gravel and dirt tracks.

The Irish rider, who competed at the Tour of Britain last week, had to be content with 12th place today, on a day when European champion Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime).

Wiebes rode the technical finish, with multiple twists and turns or a narrow cobbled road, expertly to get ahead and then power her way to victory. Gillespie was among a group battling for position behind her, and put in a strong effort after her crash.

Eventual winner Wiebes leads the way, with Gillespie fourth in line, on one of the dirt tracks that made for a very tough day out in Belgium (Photo: Luc Claessen-Getty Images)

The race - some 124.6 from Aarschot to Diest - include 17 sectors of gravel, dirt track and cobbles and proved a war of attrition, with the front group becoming smaller and smaller as the event unfolded.

And though Gillespie would have liked a stronger showing on the uphill cobbled finish, the fact she made the front group - which numbered about 30 riders - after being forced to chase back on was a good showing.

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Wiebes ended the winner, on a finish that strung out the front group, from Fleur Moors (Lidl-Trek) and Millie Couzens (Fenix-Deceuninck), with those three finishing on the same time. Gillespie was 12th at 13 seconds.

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