Mitcham’s Corrine Hall is hopeful that a thrilling debut for women’s cycling at the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire will lead to a full women’s stage next year.
The 24-year-old, who is the current World Road Race Champion as tandem pilot in the Team GB Para Cycling Team, was one of nearly 100 riders to compete across four laps of the 20k circuit in York on day two of the new event.
An exciting race ended in memorable circumstances with Hall’s IKON-Mazda teammate Louise Mahe claiming the winner’s jersey after a breathless bunch sprint saw her beat Eileen Roe and Katie Curtis into second and third respectively.
And having soaked up the atmosphere offered by the vociferous crowd in attendance throughout the race, London-born Hall described how stunning a spectacle it was.
“It’s all incredible really, we never get to race on closed circuits usually and then with the crowds like this, it was a pretty special race to be honest,” said Hall, who studied at St Mary’s University in Teddington.
“It’s definitely good to be a part of the first Tour de Yorkshire – let’s hope it continues and maybe we can potentially get a stage race in the future.
“The race was a very fast one right from the beginning.
“It was good though, everyone was attacking here, there and everywhere to try and get away.
“Then it whittled down a bit and it came down to the bunch sprint – fortunately for us Louise got up there and managed to win it for the team.”
Pearl Izumi’s Katie Archibald – a World Champion on the track in the team pursuit event – produced a fine display to place in all three sprints and pick up the sprinter’s jersey before Mahe proved victorious in the final fight for the line.
Hall finished 44th in one of her first races of the season, but she was quick to highlight the positives for herself and her team on a memorable day for the IKON-Mazda outfit.
“I felt on the limit out there, I haven’t done many races so far this year and it’s not really my sort of course,” she added.
“I tried getting in the breaks early on but it didn’t come to anything and I just didn’t have the legs at the finish, but it was a good one for the team.
“It’s really good for us – we’ve been there and thereabouts for most of the season, so for us to finally get a win is great.
“And on such a big stage as well, it’s definitely a positive moving forward and hopefully we can go from there now.
“We’ve got the Tour series coming up – I think some of us are going for some of it, so hopefully we can get a few podiums there.”
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