Kelly Murphy and Joanna Patterson dug deep for Ireland today to take 15th and 17th in the elite women's TT at the European Championships over 24km in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany.
Switzerland's Marlen Reusser took the gold medal in a time of 31:00, with last year's champion, and reigning world TT champion, Ellen van Dijk of the Netherlands in 2nd place at just six seconds. Another one of the Dutch riders, Riejanne Markus, took bronze at 28 seconds.
Murphy (32) was 2:26 down on the winner in 15th place with Patterson (34) - who was making her cycling debut for Ireland but has previously represented Ireland in another sport at the Europeans - was 2:33 down in 17th place in what was a 29-rider field.
Patterson said the conditions were very hot but she was
happy to have gotten through the race safely, adding it was a hard event to
judge.
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“I kind of went off a bit too hard up the first climb, when
you feel fresh and you pay for it soon after that. But I managed to get around
and focus on riding technically better and that’s one thing I’m happy with, my
position.”
Patterson, who has represented Ireland and Northern Ireland
in athletics in the past, said coming back to wear the green if Ireland again was
something she had not previously considered.
“It’s a big honour for me to represent Ireland,” she said. “I’ve done it before in athletics and I never thought I’d do it again. But it’s a big honour for me and it’s something I want to build on in the future.”
