Megan Armitage has continued to impress while racing against pro riders in Europe; getting up the road again and taking 2nd place in Kermis Erwetegem in Belgium.
The Irish rider, a relative newcomer to this level of racing, has shown no fear of late, going on the attack and mopping up top results, including winning Emptinne GP Roland Warnon in Wallonie two weeks ago.
Her latest outing yesterday saw her go on the attack
again, getting clear with Finnish international Laura Vainionpää (S-Bikes
Doltcini) to battle it out in a two-up sprint for the victory.
And while Armitage was beaten into 2nd place this time, the Team Rupelcleaning rider appears to have seamlessly taken to the higher level of racing in Europe.
The 25-year-old was not the only Irish woman in the top 10 yesterday as her team mates Fiona Mangan and Alice Sharpe were 7th and 10th after getting into the mix in the bunch sprint for 4th place.
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With eleven laps of an 8km circuit to contend with, some
61 riders assembled for the fixture on a circuit with two climbs and the finish
on a cobbled drag up to the line.
While Armitage joined the early attacks, none of the moves she made resulted in any groups going clear. And after she knocked off her efforts a 10-rider breakaway got clear, which included former Irish champion Sharpe. However, while they pulled out a gap and stayed away for about three laps, the front of the bunch got organised and brought them back.
Armitage then did her best to keep her powder dry until about 20km to go. At that point she put in a hard dig on a drag about 2km from the finish line and immediately got a gap. She plugged away on her own before eventual winner Vainionpää got across to her solo.
And that’s the way it stayed until the finish; the two
leaders sharing the workload and managing to build a gap that stretched out to
a minute at one point before Vainionpää won the sprint for victory over
Armitage.
Behind the two leaders, Claudia Jongerius (Bingoal
Casino-Chevalmeire CT) managed to get clear of the peloton and finished solo
for 3rd place, some 25 seconds down on the winner and runner-up.
Belgian international, and last year’s Gent Wevelgem winner, Jolien D'Hoore of SD Worx took the bunch sprint for 4th place, 40 seconds down on Vainionpää and Armitage.
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