CANYON//SRAM Racing: Barnes ninth at the Prudential RideLondon Classique

Image: ©Velofocus

Hannah Barnes has sprinted to ninth place yesterday in the Prudential RideLondon Classique. The UCI Women's WorldTour race was won by Kirsten Wild (HPU) ahead of Nina Kessler (LWZ) and Leah Kirchmann (LPT). Barnes' teammate Alexis Ryan, took third place in the sprint classification.

A strong international line up of riders contested the 66km race around the sights of Westminster. A frantic pace and with several teams interested in a bunch sprint, breakaways were never allowed to establish a significant gap. Tiffany Cromwell said "It was a fast race and aggressive. It was hard for anything to get away because so many wanted a sprint. It was always going to be hard for our team with four riders, but we were present in important moves and we had an impact on the race."

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With an average speed of just under 45km/hour, the peloton sprinted to the finish line on The Mall in front of a massive crowd. Televised live to more than three million viewers the richest women's race created an amazing atmosphere both at the race and digitally around the world. Following the race Barnes said "The team plan was to do a lead out and give me an opportunity to sprint for the win. There were some scary points during the race because of the urgency to keep position going in to the hairpin corners."

"The last lap was good. We were all together and in a good position. Actually we were in good position for all of the race so that helped us. The crowds were amazing. The whole way around the course they were really great. It's always special racing around there and I enjoy it."

​The team will next race at the UCI Women's WorldTour in Vårgårda, Sweden on 19 and 21 August.

by Beth Duryea / duryea@wmncycling.com

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