Lara Gillespie competing in the World Road Championships this week!

Lara is back in the Irish jersey again this week - this time at the World Road Championships!

Lara is competing in the Junior Time Trial tomorrow (Monday 24th Sept) and the Junior Road Race on Thursday (26th September).

Details on the TT from the UCI website:
Start: Hall-Wattens, Swarovski Kristallwelten
Finish: Innsbruck, Rennweg
Time: 10:10 am - 11:55 pm

Medal Ceremony: 12:15, finish area Innsbruck

Course: The race begins at the Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens. The course is a classic but very hilly time trial with a total distance of 20km. The first seven kilometres are flat, followed by a steep climb from Mils to Absam with 100 vertical metres of elevation gain. Thanks to the wide roads the course is not particularly technical, but pacing the effort correctly will be essential. The final section is a fast run into the finish through several villages to the east of Innsbruck offering great views of the city and its Olympic Village. The race concludes in front of the Hofburg imperial palace in the city centre.

For more information on the World Championships and the programme see - www.innsbruck-tirol2018.com/en/programme/

For live timing of the TT tomorrow: Tissot Timing website, TT Timing

We wish Lara the best of luck this week, but also we hope she has a great time and enjoys the experience! Give it socks Lara!!!

Congratulations to Lara who finished 19th today in the World Junior Time Trial in Innsbruck. To finish inside the top 20 in the world when she is still only a first year junior is an amazing result!

Chapeau Lara!

Results:
1. Rozemarijn Ammerlaan, Netherlands 27:02:25
19. Lara Gillespie, +1:12.46

Lara will be in action again on Thursday when she competes in the World Junior Road Race alongside Meave Gallagher from Mayo.

Lara is back in action tomorrow - Thursday the 27th - along with Maeve Gallagher in the Junior Road Race. Best of luck to Lara and Maeve - Give it socks, ride fast and safe!

If you don't have Eurosport the UCI youTube channel has been showing the racing live all week and it should be live on www.youtube.com/user/ucichannel

When: Thu 27/09/2018

Start location: Rattenberg

Finish location: Innsbruck

Time: 9:10 am -11:15 am

Total distance: 71.7 km

Elevation gain: 975 m

Circuit details: 1 short lap

Course: The Women Junior Road Race will start in Rattenberg. The first section from Rattenberg to Pill is a classic flat road race. After 25 kilometres the riders reach Pill, where they will cross over to the other side of the valley and continue via Terfens to Gnadenwald. The very steep climb to Gnadenwald is 2.6km in length and has a maximum gradient of 14%. The riders then build up speed through the villages of Absam, Thaur, Rum and Arzl before finally reaching Innsbruck. Once in the regional capital they embark on one lap of the 24km Olympic Circuit including an 8km climb from Innsbruck to the bottom station of the cable car onto the Patscherkofel mountain, which hosted downhill skiing events at the 1964 and 1976 Olympics. The riders then descend at top speed through the village of Igls, past the Bergisel ski jump and the Olympic Stadium into the centre of Innsbruck, where the race concludes in front of the Hofburg imperial palace.

Challenge: The very steep climb to Gnadenwald which is 2.6km in length and has a maximum gradient of 14%.

Olympic Circuit: The Olympic Circuit starts in the Museumstraße road in the centre of Innsbruck and leads past the Sillpark shopping centre, the Tivoli open-air swimming pool, the Tivoli football stadium (home to the FC Wacker Innsbruck football team) and up to Ambras Castle. It is here that the climb begins in earnest, a 7.9km ascent with a maximum gradient of 10% passing through the villages of Aldrans and Lans on the way to the bottom of the Patscherkofel cable car. After cresting the climb near the bottom station of the Patscherkofel cable car, riders turn right and descend at high speed through the villages of Igls and Vill, past the Bergisel ski jump to the Tivoli football stadium, over the Olympiabrücke bridge and into the centre of the city. There they pass the victory arch, ride along the main shopping thoroughfare and into the oldtown. From the Golden Roof, Innsbruck’s most recognisable attraction, the course continues over the Innbrücke bridge up through the very narrow Höttinger Gasse road to the Höttinger Platzl square, where riders turn right and descend once again down through the Riedgasse road to the finish in front of the Hofburg imperial palace.

Circuit: 47.9 km + 1 short lap 23.8 km

Race details: Neutral start: real start after 1.5 km
Race distance: 70.2 km

Lara has done us proud again today!

Competing in her final big event of the season Lara raced the Junior World Championship Road Race and finished in 54th place overall.

Lara suffered a mechanical in the neutralised opening section of the race and had to work hard to get back onto the peloton. As always Lara gave her all, two difficult climbs splintered the peloton into various smaller groups until local rider Laura Stigger and a group containing an Italian, Canadian and French girl broke free. In the end Laua Stigger sprinted in ahead of three others to take the rainbow jersey .

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Lara on her amazing year and to thank her for bringing us along for the ride!

Now enjoy some well deserved rest Lara!!


Photo thanks to Sean Rowe


photo thanks to Sean Rowe

Hear hear! a fantastic year full of so many achievements.

Peter