Lydia Boylan in action at the weekend in the inaugural Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix around St James’s Park in central London.
By Caroline Martinez
This weekend, five Irish women lined up against some of the best pros in the world at the inaugural Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix around St James’s Park in central London.
The women's criterium pro race was part of a series of events organised by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and also included a sportive and a pro men’s race.
Ireland was represented by Lauren Creamer (ISCorp Cycling/NCSF), Lydia Boylan (Look Mum No Hands!), Amy Brice, Mary Costelloe, and Sarah Piner (DID Electrical Racing Team).
They were up against none other than Olympic medallist Laura Trott and her Wiggle Honda team Dani King, Joanna Rowsell and Emily Collins.
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Among the 100 women bunch were also European cyclocross champion Helen Wyman (Kona/FSA Factory Team), Amanda Spratt and Loes Gunnewijk (Orica Greenedge ), Katie Colclough (Specialized lululemon) British Criterium champion Hannah Barnes and her team MG Maxifuel to name but a few.
The race was won by Laura Trott, the ambassador for the event and among the top 14 were three Irish women: Lauren Creamer, Mary Costelloe and Lydia Boylan.
“It was pretty amazing!” said Boylan.
“In the UK women's racing is lucky to have so many top quality city centre crits such as the Nocturne and Johnson Health Tech Series. But this seemed to be special. Firstly because of the location; along the finish straight of the Olympic Road Race and right beside Buckingham Palace. And secondly because the women's race was the main show; so often we're just a support event for the men.”
The race was on a 2km circuit and although it was not as technical as the usual British criterium, the pros made it quite difficult for everyone trying to keep up with them.
“There were no challenging corners or hills but with the line up of so many good UK based riders plus so many pros if made for a fast attacking race,” said Boylan.
Having raced in Belgium earlier this year and having lined up again some of the best pros racing as an elite in the UK, Boylan still finds it a little intimidating racing against riders of such calibre as the field at the weekend.
“I'm kinda used to it by now. It is intimidating but you can only go as fast and your own legs will take you so just hang in for as long as you can!”
Criterium racing has taken off in the UK over the past few years and is even more prominent in the USA. This race format however, is still little used in Ireland. It uses a set of skills that Dubliner Boylan has started to master these past couple of years living in London.
“It's fast and furious. You have to be able to go at maximum for the entire race. There are rarely times when you can recover which means you need to save energy where you can which usually comes from cornering efficiently all the time; easier said than done.”
The Irish riders figured prominently from the start, with Mary Costelloe escaping solo off the front of the pack in the early stages and Boylan in the second half of the race.
The race was broadcast in its entirety on BBC1 on Sunday morning, showing to the world that the Irish too can be competitive even against the toughest line up.
“My only goal before the race was to try to make a move and get the jersey out front and I was lucky get a mention on the TV coverage. I attacked on the sprint lap so thought I'd go for a long one and see what would happen."
"When I saw Amanda on my wheel, I thought that was game over but realised we had a nice little gap and it was still a way to the line for the prime. But then Katie Archibald came over to us with such pace that there was no how for the prime but we still had a gap."
"I thought 'crap this could be the move get back on that wheel' but Wiggle Honda had us reeled in very quickly. I was pretty happy I made a good move though and got a mention on BBC.”
“I caught up with the girls and Stew (Carr, DID Electrical RT on-road manager). I made good friends with the Irish team at the Rás na mBan last year so it was great to catch up with Amy (Brice) and Lauren (Creamer). It was a superb top 10 finish for Lauren and great to see the DID Electrical jersey up there too.”
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After this televised display of strength and determination, Boylan is already planning her next big pro race in Belgium as well as the National Track Championships also just around the corner where she has a couple of titles to defend.
“I'm off to Belgium for the Lotto Decca Tour at the end of this month so training hard for that. And mixing in a bit of track too in preparation for Nationals in September.”
Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix
1 Trott, Laura (GBR) Wiggle Honda 00:45:26
2 Barnes, Hannah (GBR) MG-Maxifuel Pro Cycling 00:45:27
3 Rowney, Loren (AUS) Specialized lululemon 00:45:27
4 King, Danielle Wiggle Honda 00:45:27
5 Gunnewijk, Loes (NED) Orica-AIS 00:45:27
6 Owen, Harriet (GBR) Matrix Fitness Racing Aca… 00:45:27
7 Hahn, Jaqueline (AUT) Squadra Scappatella 00:45:27
8 Creamer, Lauren (IRL) ISCorp Cycling/NCSF 00:45:27
9 Perchtold, Christiana (AUT) Squadra Scappatella 00:45:28
10 Costelloe, Mary (IRL) DID Electrical Racing Team 00:45:28
14 Boylan, Lydia (IRL) Look Mum No Hands! 00:45:28
32 Erskine, Julie (GBR) DID Electrical Racing Team 00:45:51
37 Brice, Amy (IRL) DID Electrical Racing Team 00:45:57
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