UCD Ad Astra's Lara Gillespie comes out on top at National Senior Championships
Posted 6 October, 2020
UCD Elite Sports Scholar Lara Gillespie has won the Senior Women’s National Championship.
The UCD Cycling Club rider was crowned Irish champion after a sprint finish at Knockaderry, County Limerick on the last day of the National Road Cycling Championships.
The 19-year-old, who studies Health and Performance Science at University College Dublin and is a member of the Ad Astra Elite Sports Scholarship programme, cross the finish line ahead of more experience racers including 2018 champion Eve McCrystal.
Lara Gillespie claims the Women's title with a powerful sprint finish.
— Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) (opens in a new window)October 4, 2020
Eve McCrystal 2nd and Ellen McDermott 3rd (opens in a new window)pic.twitter.com/yRdXrvaIZt
"So many strong women out today, I am just really surprised that I won. I am so proud, I worked so hard all year,” said Gillespie speaking after her win.
“It was intense from the beginning of the race, there was a group off the front. We were coming up the hill and with about 500 metres to go it just felt like it was going on for ages, it was a really good race."
She continued: “The last kilometre was very tactical. Everyone was watching each other, I thought I was in a rubbish position and there were nearly a few crashes, I just got a gap on the outside and I went for it. It felt way longer than I thought but luckily it went well."
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations
