That'll do nicely: Maria Larkin takes a big victory, in a UCI-ranked cyclocross race in front of an Irish crowd (Photo: Toby Watson)
The look on the face of Maria Larkin as she crossed the line in Belfast today said it all; sheer delight at winning a big race with UCI ranking.
The victory was an important one for the US-based Irish international after her last trip to Ireland for a major fixture did not go to plan.
She was well beaten at the National Cyclocross Championships back in January.
Back then it was 16-year-old Lara Gillespie (Scott-Orwell) who came through to win the elite crown just a couple of weeks into her junior career.
However, today Larkin put that defeat to bed, proving a very strong victor ahead of European track and Irish road champion Gillespie.
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And rounding out the podium in the women’s UCI-ranked Bioracer-Atlassian International Cyclocrosswas Michelle Geoghegan (Autoglas Wettern).
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However, while Larkin ran out a clear winner in the end, she did not have it all her own way.
She crashed very early in the race, just after the start, which tested her mentally and physically.
And while she got back on her feet and remounted to fight back to the front of the race, her shifter wasn’t working properly for the remainder of the contest.
That early mishap was soon put to one side when the women reached the first uphill technical section.
A further crash there, which Larkin avoided, added some additional chaos. And though it was early in the race, Larkin decided to put in a surge in a bid to get ahead.
Gillespie had the same idea in mind and while the two women pressed at the same moment, it was Larkin who got ahead.
And from that moment on she really didn’t look back all the way to the finish; a complete turnaround on her memories of Ireland in January.
For Larkin, the nationals were a complete wash out nine months ago. Not only was she the highly fancied rider who failed to take gold, she didn’t even make the podium.
She said afterwards jetlag had undermined her performance. But Cycling Ireland stuck with her and she was selected onto the Irish team for the World Cyclocross Championships.
And though she was not under immense pressure to win today, she was clearly relieved to take the victory and banish her nationals nightmare.
From the start today she looked very strong; a feat in itself for any rider facing off against teenager Gillespie.
The women’s event got into a pattern early at the front which didn’t really change in any significant way as the contest wore on.
Larkin established her supremacy early, getting ahead and staying there. And behind her, Gillespie took up 2nd position and held that, with Geoghegan doing the same in third.
More to follow.
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