Frenchwoman Oceane Goergen of the Ladynamips RVC team sprinted to victory on stage one of Rás na mBan on Wednesday, beating the Briton Alice McWilliam (Team Phoenix) and Ireland's Erin Creighton (Cycling Ireland) after a difficult afternoon in the saddle.
Goergen proved fastest in a 45-rider sprint to the line in Freshford and will wear the race leader's jersey on Thursday’s second stage.
"I am very happy to have win today, especially for my team," she said. "It is a big step for me to do such a long stage race. I’m very happy to have succeeded and I hope the rest of the race goes well."
The 76.1km opening leg began in Kilkenny and featured the category three climb of Kearney’s Hill around the halfway point, plus an identically-ranked climb close to the finish.
McWilliam showed her speed early on to win the intermediate sprint, taking bonus seconds. Irish rider Aine Doherty (Cycling Ireland) went solo prior to the first climb but was recaptured soon afterwards.
Once onto Kearney’s Hill the peloton fragmented into several pieces and French amateur champion Noemie Abgrall (Ladynamips RVC) beat Cycling Ireland’s Esther Wong to the top.
There was a gradual regrouping of the peloton but the pressure was on once again inside the final nine kilometres to go when the riders began the category three Rathealy ascent. Abgrall again beat Wong for the points at the top, ensuring a stint in the Queen of the Mountains jersey on Thursday.
That climb plus the fast descent meant that there were less than 50 riders in contention for the stage win, with Goergen proving best. She is one second clear of McWilliam in the overall standings, and six ahead of Creighton.
There are 18 teams from 14 different countries taking part in this year’s race, the 19th edition of Rás na mBan.
The event continues Thursday with a tough 104.2km stage from Kilkenny to Gorey and runs until Sunday.
Last year was a very successful campaign for the Irish, with Mia Griffin taking two stages and becoming the first Irishwoman in 11 years to win overall.
Caoimhe O’Brien also won a stage. Both riders are absent this year but others including Creighton, Doherty, Wong and Aliyah Rafferty will challenge the foreign competition.
Rafferty recently took a superb third in the 1.1 ranked Grand Prix Ceratizit Women Junior in France. Linda Kelly (Cycling Ireland Women’s Commission) is also one to watch. She recently raced to two gold medals at the paracycling world championships, piloting a tandem shared with Katie George Dunlevy.
She is a climber and will relish the uphills in the days ahead, particularly Saturday’s summit finish atop The Rower.
Rás na mBan stage 1, Kilkenny to Freshford:
1 Océane Goergen (Ladynamips RVC)
2 Alice McWilliam (Team Phoenix)
3 Erin Grace Creighton (Team Ireland)
4 Grace Ward (O’Shea Development Team)
5 Eleftheria Giachou (Greece)
6 Mia Williams (WV Breda)
7 Kirstie Drakeford (Jadan Vive le Velo Glasdon)
8 Alice Colling (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team)
9 Varvara Fasoi (Greece)
10, Olympia Norrid-Mortensen (Torelli) all same time
