Sports · Other Sports · 5 hrs ago
Lara Gillespie closes in on sprint rival Lorena Wiebes
Irish cyclist Lara Gillespie is closing the gap on Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes.
At the track world championships in Shanghai, Gillespie finished just a few centimetres behind Wiebes in the scratch race.
The silver medal showed how close Gillespie came to beating her rival, after she timed a late surge but ran out of track before the finish.
Wiebes has dominated women’s sprinting for several seasons and has 142 road victories.
Gillespie has not beaten her in a road sprint, but has finished second to her eight times since September 2025.
Gillespie and UAE Team l’Imad aim to make her faster and stronger, while preserving the speed she already has.
Her coach says she has room to improve as women’s races place new demands on riders.
The team wants to help her win sooner rather than wait for Wiebes to slow down with age.
Lara Gillespie finished a couple of centimeters behind Lorena Wiebes in the scratch race at the 2026 track world championships in Shanghai.
The Irish rider’s silver medal was her closest indication yet that she could beat the Dutch sprinter.
Gillespie has finished second to Wiebes eight times in road sprints since September 2025.
Her coach and UAE Team want to make her faster and stronger, with the aim of winning sooner rather than later.
- Who
- Lara Gillespie and her sprint rival Lorena Wiebes.
- What
- Gillespie is narrowing the gap to Wiebes after finishing just behind her in the track world championships scratch race.
- When
- At the 2026 track world championships; the article was published on November 1, 2026.
- Where
- Shanghai, China.
- Why
- Gillespie and her team are working to improve her speed and strength so she can win against Wiebes.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Dario Giovine took over as Gillespie’s coach after she moved from UAE’s development team to its WorldTour squad.
Gillespie has finished second to Wiebes eight times in road sprints.
Gillespie finished a couple of centimeters behind Wiebes in the scratch race in Shanghai.
Velo published an article about Gillespie’s progress against Wiebes.
- Track world championships
- Shanghai, China
- Scratch race result
- Gillespie finished a couple of centimeters behind Wiebes
- Road sprint results
- Gillespie has finished second to Wiebes eight times since September 2025
- Wiebes’ road victories
- 142
- Gillespie’s career road wins
- 11
- Team
- UAE Team l’Imad
What people are saying
I just was really brave and was really focused.
But then in the end, I actually played it a bit too smart, and missed an opportunity to win.
We discovered that Lara has a lot of room for improvement in a lot of things, and we are working on it.