The Rás na mBan race was won by Mia Griffin, marking the first time in over a decade that an Irish cyclist has triumphed in the event. This victory underscores Griffin’s talent, already evidenced by her participation in Ireland’s pursuit squad for the recent Paris Olympics. She is associated with Das Hutchinson Brother UK and her performance builds on the legacy of Olivia Dillon.
Griffin managed to stay six seconds ahead of Noor Dekker from the Netherlands, who rides for JEGG DJR Academy, and maintained an 11-second lead over the former champion, Manon de Boer of NWVG-Uplus. Her Irish colleague Caoimhe O’Brien claimed the fifth spot.
For Griffin, her victory felt surreal. She entered the race uncertain about her physical condition and aimed at stage wins rather than contesting the general classification. Griffin’s race performance in Kilkenny, her home turf, was exceptional. Her flying start with a win on the first day set the tone, and she secured the second and third stages to maintain her overall lead.
The final day offered two stages: a quick time trial of 2.5km around Kilkenny Castle, followed by a city circuit race. Dekker emerged triumphant in the former, finishing 1.36 seconds ahead of De Boer. Griffin demonstrated her sprinting prowess by finishing third.
In the circuit race, Griffin’s team member Lucy Lee outsprinted Dekker to the finish line after pulling away with two laps left. Aoife O’Brien ranked fourth among the Irish cyclists, while Griffin finished with the main group, securing her overall win.
Griffin was full of gratitude for her team who were instrumental in managing her competitors, especially De Boer. She acknowledged that handling the robust challenges thrown by De Boer was a remarkable achievement on the part of her team.
Aside from scoring an overall triumph and clinching two stage victories, Griffin bagged the lead in terms of points classification. In this eminent international contest, O’Brien emerged as the top young competitor.
In a different event, the Loudenvielle stage of the UCI downhill World Cup in France, the Irish participants demonstrated exceptional performance, securing the fifth and sixth places, slightly more than three seconds adrift of the champion Benoit Coulanges of Dorval AM Commencal.