Great Britain Cycling Team’s Alice Barnes and Abby-Mae Parkinson finished 34th and 42nd respectively in the women’s time trial at the UEC European Road Championships.
The elite and under-23 women’s time trial was stacked with Olympic medallists from Rio 2016.
Ellen Van Dijk became the European time trial champion, after a disappointing fourth-place finish at the Olympic Games in Rio last month.
Van Dijk set a blistering pace and crossed the line in 36:41.07 for the 25.4km course.
Anna Van der Breggen, winner of the women’s Olympic road race and Olga Zabelinskaya, silver medallist in the Olympic time trial took silver and bronze respectively and were the only riders able to get within a minute and a half of Van Dijk’s time.
#EuroRoad16 - Ellen Van Dijk (NED) sets a new best time, that will be hard to beat: 36:41
— UEC Cycling (@UEC_cycling) September 15, 2016
Barnes and Parkinson represented the Great Britain Cycling Team and put in strong performances amongst the world-class field.
Both British riders were under-23 competitors but as the women’s elite and under-23 competition was run as one event, they competed with the top riders in Europe, as well as within their age category.
Barnes, winner of the under-23 road race at the British Cycling National Road Race Championships in June, set a time of 40:48.03 and finished in 34th place overall, and 14th in the under-23 competition.
Teammate Parkinson followed closely behind with a time of 41:20.59, which put her in 42nd place in the overall standings and the 19th fastest under-23.
The under-23 competition was won by Anastasiia Iakovenko from Russia, in a time of 39:35.37, over a minute quicker than the British pair.
#EuroRoad16 - Elite Women's time trial podium pic.twitter.com/3cREClDHej
— UEC Cycling (@UEC_cycling) September 15, 2016
