Alice Sharpe's efforts to lead out Mia Griffin may have been derailed by late crashes in Spain today but the former national road race champion took a result for herself in Vuelta CV Feminas (1.1).
Sharpe (IBCT) had her team mate and compatriot Griffin in her slipstream as the remains of the peloton hurtled into Valencia after 92km of racing. The Irish duo came through a crash unscathed with about 3km to go. However, another fall deep inside the final kilometre interrupted Griffin's effort and so Sharpe pressed on alone and took 10th place.
“I was doing the lead-out for Mia but when she got caught
behind the crash I gave anything I had left for the sprint,” Sharpe told
stickybottle. “The race had a few
attacks but stayed relatively together due to the wind and rolling nature of
the course.
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“I left good,
just staying calm and trying to keep Mia safe. But the finish was very sketchy with lots of
roundabouts and gravel, which caused the crashes.”
The race was won by former world and European road race champion Marta Bastianelli (UAE Team ADQ) from Ilaria Sanguineti (Valcar-Travel & Service) and Austrian champion Kathrin Schweinberger (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling).
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The first 35 riders were credited with the same time as the winner, followed by a one-second split to the next section of the peloton, which contained Griffin, who finished in 41st place.
And while the Kilkenny woman will have to wait before getting a clear run at a finish line, the fact she and Sharpe survived in the peloton and were combining well in the finale bodes well for the season ahead.
