Another very wet morning. There was a pretty "upbeat" atmosphere as we set off into the mist, slipping and sliding along the shiny roads. Thankfully the pace was fairly gentle from the start, allowing the legs to warm up and Iona to launch a solo attack in the direction of the first climb, where she took the first "Queen of the Hills" points with a gap of a minute. A number of other riders attacked up the road but the main bunch (including the leaders) stayed together until well after the first climb.
Eventually (after a good 20 miles) we caught sight of Iona and co. up the road and the pace picked up significantly. Passing through the town of Waterville for the second time, the pace picked up again, as we started the second ascent of Coomaciste. Unfortunately, Iona heard a twang and then some clonking (broken spoke) and had to wait for a spare wheel.
Kim (as ever) remained with the leaders for the remainder of the race and contested the bunch sprint as the race finished in Sneem. Sarah and Steph tried their best to hang on up the climb, losing contact with the bunch near to the top. They eventually formed a group with a couple of Dutch girls and despite both losing their chains on the gallop for home, finished just over 4 minutes behind the leading bunch. (Not at all bad considering Sarah had nearly not been allowed to start the final stage, owing to a nasty chest infection). Iona was not far behind.
Stage 6 results: Kim 14th, Sarah 24th, Steph 26th, Iona 31st
Final GC after 6 stages: Kim 4th, Iona 24th, Steph 26th, Sarah 32nd
Squadra Donne finished 5th overall
This has been a fantastic week: hard work, tiring but incredibly fun and so special to be so many other female cyclists. Special thanks must go to Jon and Steve - in particular to Steve for his endless encouragement, superb massages, expert bike fixing and for washing Irish road off our bikes after at least 3 stages.
Big thanks also to Valerie Considine for organising an awesome week of racing; Louis Moriarty and all at Sneem Hotel for giving us a super base for the week and for looking after us and feeding us so well. Thanks also must go to Kim, who rode for the team this week. What a brilliant result. We wish you all the best for the future...
(Photos taken by Jill Leonard of Eurosport Photography)
Eventually (after a good 20 miles) we caught sight of Iona and co. up the road and the pace picked up significantly. Passing through the town of Waterville for the second time, the pace picked up again, as we started the second ascent of Coomaciste. Unfortunately, Iona heard a twang and then some clonking (broken spoke) and had to wait for a spare wheel.
Kim (as ever) remained with the leaders for the remainder of the race and contested the bunch sprint as the race finished in Sneem. Sarah and Steph tried their best to hang on up the climb, losing contact with the bunch near to the top. They eventually formed a group with a couple of Dutch girls and despite both losing their chains on the gallop for home, finished just over 4 minutes behind the leading bunch. (Not at all bad considering Sarah had nearly not been allowed to start the final stage, owing to a nasty chest infection). Iona was not far behind.
Stage 6 results: Kim 14th, Sarah 24th, Steph 26th, Iona 31st
Final GC after 6 stages: Kim 4th, Iona 24th, Steph 26th, Sarah 32nd
Squadra Donne finished 5th overall
This has been a fantastic week: hard work, tiring but incredibly fun and so special to be so many other female cyclists. Special thanks must go to Jon and Steve - in particular to Steve for his endless encouragement, superb massages, expert bike fixing and for washing Irish road off our bikes after at least 3 stages.
Big thanks also to Valerie Considine for organising an awesome week of racing; Louis Moriarty and all at Sneem Hotel for giving us a super base for the week and for looking after us and feeding us so well. Thanks also must go to Kim, who rode for the team this week. What a brilliant result. We wish you all the best for the future...
(Photos taken by Jill Leonard of Eurosport Photography)
2 comments:
Well done all -sounds like you've had a really good week - wish I'd been there with you. Get well soon Sarah :-)
Post a Comment