Gallagher: "I was gutted but I was determined; I fought all the way"

Maeve Gallagher is on the up in the world of cycling; the young Co Mayo cyclist putting in a great World Championships ride despite two crashes along the way, including at the very end

Maeve Gallagher
has said she was in a great position to try and compete for a medal at the
World Championships before a crash took her out.

She was one of
seven or eight fallers well inside the final 500 metres, running any hope of
pressing at the front on the uphill finish.

It was her second
crash in the race after earlier being forced to chasing for 10km to regain the
main peloton.

Despite that
first crash around the halfway point in the 86km race, Gallagher stayed in the peloton
as it whittled down.

Maeve Gallagher on the deck just before the finish. But she got up and got going again immediately

In the closing
kilometres she and Lara Gillespie were at the front of the lead group hustling
for position with the medals all still up for grabs.

However, both
Irish riders were scuppered by the crash deep inside the final kilometre.

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Gallagher got
back up and immediately and finished 25th, just 33 seconds down despite hitting
the deck hard.

Gillespie was
left to run over the line with her bike and Lucy O’Donnell finished further
back in a group having also had a crash-effected ride.

Gallagher rued
falling when she was in the fight for the medals and was also disappointed the
race was not hillier; terrain she really favours.

Gallagher was in ribbons when she finished; looking more like she'd been in a rugby match than a bike race (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
Maeve Gallagher finishes alongside one of the Poles; in 25th at 33 seconds after the late crash split the front group she was in (Photo: Caroline Kerley)

“Unfortunately yesterday I didn’t have the luck of the Irish on my side,” she told stickybottle of what was still a great performance for the international cyclist and triathlete.

“The flat wide
roads for the majority of the race made for dangerous racing and I came down
hard in a large crash with 40km to go.

“I was bruised and cut up but I wanted to wear the Irish jersey with pride so I was determined to get back into the main peloton, which I caught after a hard 10km effort."

With her international triathlon and cycling experience, Gallagher looks very comfortable at this level even though her international cycling has been limited (Photo: Toby Watson)
Gallagher on the left with team mates Lara Gillespie and Lucy O'Donnell before their junior race in Harrogate yesterday (Photo: Sean Rowe)

 “Sadly our race didn’t get to complete any
laps of the hilly circuit around the town which would have split the race up a
bit.

“In the final kilometre I was in a great position fighting for a medal only to be taken out again in the home straight.

"I was gutted but fought all the way to the line,” she said of finishing with cuts and bruises all over but not broken bones or other serious injuries.

She added the support
from home and from the Cycling Ireland staff had been a huge boost for her,
Gillespie and O’Donnell.

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