Neah Evans has taken her fair share of bumps and bruises lately but still managed to emerge victorious at the CiCLE Classic in Melton Mowbray.
The double Commonwealth Games medallist twice came off the bike during Sunday’s Women’s Road Series race and would much prefer if she could get to the finish line without hitting the deck.
But the Cuminestown rider takes pride in how her road season has gone, given the lack of training time she had due to the games. She performed consistently in the Tour Series, taking three top-five finishes and helping Storey Racing to third in the team standings, just four points off the top.
Evans also rode in the Tour de Yorkshire, where she recovered from a first-day fall to finish 29th overall, and won the Scottish 10-mile time trial championship.
The next Road Series race is on June 23 in Consett, County Durham, where Evans hopes to maintain her recent form and more importantly, stay upright.
She said: “I’ve been quite unlucky of late. You go through spells where you don’t crash then have a few in quick succession.
“It’s only been bruises and a bit of road rash – superficial stuff – so hopefully that will be it now for the rest of the season.
“The first one on Sunday there was gravel on the corner and I put too much weight on the pedals and lost my back wheel.
“The second was a bit more unfortunate; there was a sharp left turn and the marshals weren’t directing us left, they were standing as if it was straight on.
“At the last minute, myself and the other two girls realised we had to turn and we were too close to each other.
“We all slammed on the brakes but my wheel got caught in someone else’s gear mechanism.
“I worked hard to get back to the front to be in a position to finish. I would rather not have it – the race was hard enough.
“But my road season has gone a lot better than I expected, especially with Sunday’s result. I didn’t have the fitness background I’d have liked but I got away with it.”
Sophie Wright had the lead in Sunday’s race with 2km to go but Evans, a medallist in the scratch and points race on the track on the Gold Coast, eradicated her eight-second advantage to close out the win in the last 500m.
She stands fourth in the Women’s Road Series rankings after two races.