UCD Ad Astra Elite Sports Scholar Lara Gillespie won the 2020 Senior Women’s National Championships. Gillespie, named Cycling Ireland Female Cyclist of the Year, nominated for the 2019 RTÉ Young Athlete of the Year award and the 2019 Irish Independent Young Athlete of the Year award, was crowned Irish champion after a sprint finish at Knockaderry, Co Limerick on the last day of the National Road Cycling Championships.
Ireland’s Team Pursuit squad claimed gold at the Track Cycling Nations Cup in St Petersburg, with UCD’s Lara Gillespie and teammates Mia Griffin, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe. The Irish proved too strong for the Russian squad in the final, clocking a time of 4.21.411, a fraction of a second off the national record.
Lara Gillespie then went on to claim bronze in the four-event Omnium, placing fifth in the scratch race, second in the tempo, eighth in the elimination and fourth in the points race. At the recent Track Cycling Nations Cup in St. Petersburg, Lara Gillespie with teammates Mia Griffin, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe claimed gold in the Team Pursuit. Gillespie added to Ireland’s medal haul claiming bronze in the four- event Omnium finishing with 110 points.