News

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, 30^th of August followed by 90km and 74km stages on Saturday the 31^st and Sunday September 1^st 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 7^th place, just 16 seconds off the podium. Aine Doherty slotted into 64^th place with Kate Murphy taking 119^th on the day.

The tough 90km Stage 2 saw Aliyah Rafferty leading the charge for the Irish contingent, coming in 44^th, with Benezet-Minns arriving in 53^rd place just six seconds behind her team-mate. Aine Doherty was next across the line for Ireland in 67^th with Kate Murphy in 93^rd.

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 7^th place finish. A 30^th place finish on the final stage saw Aliyah Rafferty end the race inside the top 20, at 15^th overall. Kate Murphy’s 44^th place on stage three saw her take 55^th overall. Finishing 75^th on the final stage meant a 61^st place finish overall for Aine Doherty.

Aliyah Rafferty also managed to take 7^th 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.

Full results from across the weekend are available HERE.