Lara Gillespie Strikes Gold Again As She’s Crowned Double U23 European Champion
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Lara Gillespie has struck gold once again as she was crowned U23 Omnium European Champion on Saturday, July 15th.
Competing at the U23 Track European Championships in Anadia, Portugal, Gillespie followed up her brilliant points race win on Friday to become European champion in the U23 Women’s Omnium.
The Enniskerry rider, who also won the elite and U23 women’s races at the 2023 Road National Championships last month, sealed an Omnium victory with a strong showing in the points race after wins in the tempo and elimination races earlier in the day.
The Omnium consists four events: scratch race, tempo race, elimination race, points race. The rider with most points at the end of the four events wins.
In the opening scratch race, Gillespie finished in tenth place but quickly climbed the leaderboards in the following events.
Gillespie dominated the tempo race, attacking from the start with another rider. With a point on offer for the first rider across the line every lap, Gillespie bagged nine points before catching the bunch and gaining 20 points for lapping the field, sealing victory.
Gillespie once again showed her strength and endurance in the gruelling elimination race to take victory and sat in third place, just two points off the lead, heading into a deciding points race.
Gillespie, just 24 hours crowned U23 Europaean champion in that race, took 24 points in the points race, enough to finish with 126 points - eight points clear of her nearest challenger.
It comes after her victory in the points race on Friday evening.
Gillespie rode extremely well picking up intermediate points in six sprints before holding off her rivals in the final sprint which awarded double points, sealing the win by seven points.
Gillespie was part of a select group of four that gained a lap on their opponents, claiming a 20 point bonus each. The points Gillespie won in the final three sprints proved decisive, outscoring her nearest rival, Maike Van Der Duin from the Netherlands to finish with 49 points.
Competition details are available here.