Lara Gillespie dodges crash for very strong result in Netherlands | Video

Lara Gillespie came through an eventful final - with two lead out efforts and a late crash in the group - to take a very strong World Tour racing result (Photo: Caroline Kerley)

Lara Gillespie has taken a strong 5th place on the penultimate stage at Simac Ladies Tour, a World Tour stage race in the Netherlands, after an eventful finale.

The Irish rider initially looked well-placed at the front of the much-reduced peloton about 3km from the finish, having been guided by her UAE Team ADQ team mates.

However, they then got badly swamped, and were pushed right back through the group, when street furniture narrowed the road, resulting in a fight for position.

But somehow the team surged again right before the finish, powering up the outside of the small peloton only for a nasty crash to occurr.

While Gillespie managed to stay safe, one of her team mates came down, among a group of fallers than also included world champion, Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx-Protime), and top sprinter Charlotte Kool (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL).

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Kopecky appeared to crash very hard, remaining on the tarmac for a time before remounting and riding slow to the finish with her team mates, though the Belgian rider looked shook, with plenty of road rash across her left shoulder.

Up ahead, the world champion's team mate, Lorena Wiebes, made it three victories in a row; winning the day after 140km of racing in the wind into Doetinchem.

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Former world champion Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) was 2nd from, Nienke Veenhoven (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) and Gillespie, in 5th.

That was a fine result at this level and follows on from the Irish rider's 7th place finish on stage 2, with the Wicklow woman showing she is in fine form as the World Track Championships approach.

Ahead of tomorrow's final stage - 145.8km starting and finishing in Arnhem - Franziska Koch (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) still leads.

More to come.

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