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Last Updated: Aug 5th, 2008 - 12:12:12 |
Last weekend saw Irish women competing respectably all over Europe! Aideen Collard won bronze in the European Masters, Louise Moriarty 6th in Erondegem, and Kate Rudd 4th in Stage 3 in Usquert, where Heather Wilson was 21st in GC.
Aideen's bronze medal in the 2km pursuit is a fantastic result for the Orwell rider, who picked up 4 medals at the National Track Championships last weekend.
Louise Moriarty (Swift Racing Team), on the back of claiming 4 National Titles in the Track Champs, was forced to opt out of the Sparkassen Giro in Germany when she suffered a bad crash in a crit last Wednesday. However, it wasn't long before she was back on the bike, in time to get 6th in a sprint finish in Erondegem. She was competing in the kermesse, where she got away twice for 2 laps, before being brought back.
The Irish Development Team were racing in a 2 Day, 3 Stage race in Usquert in Holland. The event comprised of a 128km Road Race, a 9km TT and a 60km crit, all taking place within 24 hours!
With the race taking place in the North of the Country, fast racing was the nature of the weekend, with the routes on flat terrain, with plenty of crosswinds. Two of the team members, Heather Wilson and Kate Rudd, have been guesting on the Dutch based team Moving Ladies this summer, and their experience paid off. Kate pulled off a fine 4th place in the crit on Sunday, just inches from a podium finish, having come 2nd in a prime earlier in the race. Heather Wilson finished the crit in 22nd position.
However, the stage race was decided by time trial. While Wilson is one of Ireland's top triallists, she was at a disadvantage in the event, with just the tri bars on her road bike. Many of the riders had both their road and time trial bikes with them. All four Irish girls still managed to produce strong results on the TT regardless. Heather Wilson's 13.54 in the TT put her in 25th place going into the final stage, and she managed to jump a further 4 spots by the time the race was over - getting Ireland's top result.
The Road Race was 5 loops that were 22km long, and a further 2 loops of 9km, and took place on Saturday evening. The race started fast and furious, with riders jumping off the road, and jostling for places, everyone wanting to move up the bunch. Everytime the race passed through the town the pace jumped up a gear, and riders were falling off the back of the bunch and trying chase back on to stay in contention. The feeding zone in the middle of the town made it a bit messy and manic, with water bottles flying all over the places, and thirsty riders getting a bit edgy..
Luckily most of the team stayed in for the bunch finish, and Kate Rudd got a top 30 finish.
And finally Jenny McCauley was the manager of the team in Holland, and did a fantastic job.
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| Heather Boyle on the startline |
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| Kate concentrating |
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| Heather Wilson on the startline |
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| Sarah psyched up |
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| Kate starting the TT |
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| Sarah on the course |
Erondegem, 1.15 elite women (Open omloop, 2 August)
90 km - 16 x 5 km:
1, Sylvia Debboudt (Keukens Redant Cycling Team) 90 kilometres in 2 hours 14 mins 11 secs
2, Lensy Debboudt (Keukens Redant Cycling Team) at 3 secs
3, Mieke De Clercq (KSV Deerlijk Gaverzicht VZW)
4, Elisabeth Amitstead (Halfords Great Britain)
5, Sofie De Vuyst (Topsport Vlaanderen Thompson Ladies’ Team)
6, Louise Moriarty (Swift Racing)
Holland:
Stage 1 (Irish placings):
23, Kate Rudd (Team Eire) 3 hours 8 mins
45, Heather Boyle (Team Eire) same time
73, Heather Wilson 1 (Team Eire) same time
Stage 2 TT:
28, Heather Wilson (Team Eire) 13 mins 54.97 secs
35, Heather Boyle (Team Eire) 14 mins 4.73 secs
47, Kate Rudd (Team Eire) 14 mins 18.44 secs
76, Sarah Piner (Team Eire) 15 mins 8.69 secs
Stage 3:
4, Kate Rudd (Team Eire) 1 hour 38 mins 32 secs
22, Heather Wilson (Team Eire) same time
Final overall classification:
1, Anne de Wildt (Heiloo) 4 hours 59 mins 15 secs
2, Suzanne van Gelder (Groningen) at 7 secs
3, Pippa Handley (Team Tubanters) at 12 secs
Irish:
21, Heather Wilson (Team Eire) at 1 min 11 secs
39, Kate Rudd (Team Eire) at 1 min 35 secs
66, Heather Boyle (Team Eire) at 32 mins 49 secs
88, Sarah Piner (Team Eire) at 1 hour 3 mins 58 secs
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IMAGES COPYRIGHT:
Any images included in this article remain the property of the photographer, by whom all rights are retained, 2008 ©. Use of images for electronic or print purposes is may be possible with the express, written permission of the photographer.
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