Maeve Gillespie leads in her group at the end of a fantastic race in Innsbruck. She climbed well but was just a little too far back to end up in the large front group that eventually formed after the biggest climb on the course (All photos by Sean Rowe)
She may have missed the front group that went on to fight for the rainbow jersey, but Maeve Gallagher climbed well at the World Championships today.
In the junior women’s race in Innsbruck she got over the hard climb with just over 40km remaining in the second tranche of riders that formed just after the ascent.
And while Gallagher would finish almost five minutes down, she was next on the road after that group that would effectively form the front of the race for the final 35-40km.
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Over the first of two decisive climbs just before the halfway point in the 70.8km race, it was the Russian rider Aigul Gareeva, the European road champion, who really forced the pace.
The British had led into the climb and onto the early slopes; TT bronze medal winner Elynor Bäckstedt doing a lot of work on the front.
But once on the climb, and as the field began to split, it was Russia’s Gareeva who lit it up.
Her attack pulled clear a group of around six, which included Pfeiffer Georgi; the Team GB leader.
Also in the group was Veronika Jandova of the Czech Republic, who really forced the pace up the last section of the climb.
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However, while they pulled clear over the top of the climb, the lead group would gradually swell after the ascent.
Ireland’s Gallagher was in the next group on the road that failed to make contact with the front of the race again after the ascent.
The attacks up front in the finale, and the second climb crested 12km from the finish, saw a four-rider group pull clear.
And from that Austrian Laura Stigger delighted the home fans by winning the title from a sprint.
She took the win from French rider Marie Le Net. Canada’s Simone Boilard was next, from Barbara Malcotti of Italy.
In the end Gallagher placed 26th. She finished at the head of a small group some 4:56 back.
Her Irish team mate , and European points race champion, Lara Gillespie was 54th at 5:47.
Both Irish riders held their places well near the front of the bunch in the early stages; an achievement in itself considering the large number of crashes.
And with both riders first-year juniors, they will take a huge amount of experience from the race to use for next season.
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