Strong Irish results at Scheldeprijs, Gillespie just comes up short

Lara Gillespie, far left, just came up short of a podium result on a day of strong Irish performances at Scheldeprijs (Photo: Rhode Van Elsen-Getty Images)

Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) went into Scheldeprijs (1.Pro) as one of the hottest pre-race favourites and just came up short of a podium finish after a crash in the bunch marred the final.

However, though Gillespie was hoping for more, 4th place was still a very strong result at this level and there were also some very strong performances by the Irish riders in the race.

Over in France, Fiona Mangan (Mayenne Monbana My Pie), was chasing her first win of the year at Région Pays de la Loire Tour Féminin (1.1), placing 5th in the bunch sprint for victory, won by 2016 world champion Amalie Dideriksen (Cofidis).

At Scheldeprijs, Irish road race champion, Mia Griffin (Picnic PostNL), was in the fight after 130km of racing and finished in 17th place; a solid showing by the Kilkenny woman. Like Gillespie, as she was at the front in the final, she managed to avoid the big crash with just under 2km to go.

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That incident effectively ensured a large chunk of the peloton was delayed enough to take them out of the final. And though on a small number of riders fell, the group spill delayed others at a time when coming back was not an option.

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Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech), who finished 2nd in the last two editions of this race, made it count today as she won the reduced bunch sprint for victory from Nienke Veenhoven (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), with Gillespie next.

Irish teenager Aliyah Rafferty (DAS Hutchinson) put in a very strong ride, especially as the first-year U23 was making he debut at this level. She placed 60th at 1:18, with her Irish team mate Aoife O'Brien in 89th at 2:19. Emma Jeffers (Liv AlUla Jayco) was 103rd at 4:07.

However, all of the riders who were not in the top 25 were held up by the crash, with some among the fallers, meaning the trio of Irish riders behind it did not get a chance to fully test themselves in the final kick for the finish line.

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