Emma Porter has become the first rider to represent Ireland at the UCI Gravel World Championships, though a drama-filled ride today in Italy put her on the back foot and left he disappointed she couldn't get the best out of herself.
The UCD Cycling Club rider finished 36th in the 140km race in Italy’s Veneto region. The inaugural world title race was won by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France), who prevailed in a two-up sprint from Sina Frei (Switzerland) in Cittadella. Chiara Teocchi (Italy) was 3rd with Jade Treffeisen (Germany) 4th, after the top four formed the winning group in the finale.
Ireland's Porter suffered a crash and while she was physically fine after the incident, the fall meant she was stuck in the same gear for the rest of the race, which effectively threw her into a fight to just finish the event.
Advertisement
"I crashed after 38km and I had not gears for the next 90km," she said, describing the mechanical issue as "devastating".
Related News
"I clung on to the back of a group until about 75km but they upped the pace my legs were just spinning and I couldn't stay with them. It was a long, lonely day out there."
Despite her mishap, said the first section of the race, before her crash, was a fantastic experience. However, while she was making her international debut today, on an historical day for the gravel racing and cycling generally, there was no hiding the disappointment over her crash.
"I just skid out on a corner. I lost a bit of skin but nothing major. The gears wouldn't change after that. I stopped at a feed station and tried to manually drop (the chain) but it kept shifting back to the same gear."
She said at about 130km she suffered a second incident when she missed her line and went up on a bank, resulting in her wheel jamming. At that point she thought she may be stranded but when she took out the wheel and popped it back in, the issue was resolved and she was able to get going again.
