A strong Irish team battled intense heat and tough competition at the Watersley Ladies Challenge in the Netherlands over the weekend.
A time trial on Friday, 30th
of August followed by 90km and 74km stages on Saturday the 31st and
Sunday September 1st respectively saw a team of four Irish riders compete
with some of the best Junior talent from around the world.
This round of the Nations Cup Series opened with a 6.4km
time-trial. A very impressive performance from Lucy Benezet-Minns saw her take
second place on the stage, with team-mate Aliyah Rafferty also making the top
10. Rafferty took 7th place, just 16 seconds off the podium. Aine
Doherty slotted into 64th place with Kate Murphy taking 119th
on the day.
The tough 90km Stage 2 saw Aliyah Rafferty leading the
charge for the Irish contingent, coming in 44th, with Benezet-Minns arriving
in 53rd place just six seconds behind her team-mate. Aine Doherty
was next across the line for Ireland in 67th with Kate Murphy in 93rd.
A heavy crash on the final stage saw just 85 riders out of
136 day one starters make it to the finish. All Irish riders managed to make it
to the finish, and another top 10 finish saw Lucy Benezet-Minns ensure an
overall 7th place finish. A 30th place finish on the
final stage saw Aliyah Rafferty end the race inside the top 20, at 15th
overall. Kate Murphy’s 44th place on stage three saw her take 55th
overall. Finishing 75th on the final stage meant a 61st
place finish overall for Aine Doherty.
Aliyah Rafferty also managed to take 7th place in
the Young Riders Classification.
Overall the four Irish representatives put in a very impressive performance in tough conditions, battling intense heat all weekend and avoiding a crash taking out such a large chunk of the field.