Lara Gillespie’s first weekend of racing in Europe didn’t exactly get off to a roaring start (Photo: FacePeeters)
Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) got a brutal introduction to the wet, mud and cobbles of Belgium in the spring when she crashed at Omloop Nieuwsblad and did not finish the race, her first event in Europe this year.
Compatriots Fiona Mangan (Mayenne Monbana My Pie) and national road race champion, Mia Griffin (Picnic PostNL), were more fortunate, both finishing the 137.2km World Tour race to Ninove in a large group at 7:43.
Gillespie was commencing a significant block of racing, all of it in Belgium, that will keep her busy over the next month. She was going into these races with some experience for the first time, having ridden many of them last year, though her crash is a setback.
However, her team was working for Dutch rider Karlijn Swinkels yesterday, meaning Gillespie did not miss out on any major chance for herself, even though she abandoned the race.
She was working for Swinkels, who eventually finished 6th, during the event when she was the victim of that crash, alongside Swinkels. They crashed in the peloton, with other riders, just before the ascent of the Kapelmuur, with more than 20km still to race.
Swinkels was able to continue and she got herself into the 15-rider second group, that sprinted it out for third place. They were 21 seconds down on winner and runner-up, Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) and Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto).
Gillespie’s crash was a disappointment, especially as she was with Swinkels, and well positioned at the critical point in the race as the main favourites began making their key moves on the Kapelmuur.
“Thankfully, both Swinkels and Gillespie escaped the crash without serious consequences, closing a tough but encouraging opening chapter of the Classics campaign for UAE Team ADQ,” Gillespie’s team said in a statement.
The Irish rider is back in action today, Sunday, at Fenix Omloop van het Hageland (1.1), where she was 2nd last year.