Fiiona Mangan, the new dual Irish road race and TT champion, has clearly retained the form that brought her those two titles in Co Limerick last month as she take’s her new champion’s stripes into the international pro peloton in Europe.
The Cynisca Cycling rider is currently two stages into the six-stage Baloise Ladies Tour (2.1) in Belgium and has been getting herself into the mix against some of the top World Tour riders in the sport.
On yesterday’s stage 1 – some 113.8km from Breskens to Knokke-Heist – the fight for victory came down to a bunch sprint won by Wednesday’s prologue TT winner Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime).
The Dutch woman, now with 14 victories already this season, saw off the challenge of Team dsm-firmenich PostNL team mates Charlotte Kool and Rachele Barbieri.
On the uphill drag to the finish, Mangan was in the middle of the action at the head of the bunch, placing 14th on the stage; a strong showing from the Limerick woman.
Mangan had finished 45th, of a 139-strong field, in the 2.7km prologue in Hulst on Wednesday. She was 14 seconds down on stage winner Wiebes, who now leads the race overall by 12 seconds from Kool. With four stages remaining, Mangan is 29th overall, at 27 seconds.
The race continues today with a 126.8km stage starting and finishing in Zulte, Another sprint finish looks likely, though perhaps from a smaller group. Cobbled sections and some small climbs early in the day may help whittle down the peloton.
Lorena Wiebes wins on The Walker in Knokke-Heist!
Charlotte Kool comes up in 2nd place #BaloiseLT #BaloiseLT24 pic.twitter.com/YrC4gbKCwS
— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) July 18, 2024
.
.
.
#Irish #champion #Mangan #takes #strong #result #Belgium #Video
Source link
