Antwerp Port Epic

An insight into this EPIC race from Tiffany Keep:

This past weekend we headed off to Belgium for a race like no other. A completely unique race on the road calendar which includes 65km of off-road sectors over 147km. The Antwerp Port Epic UCI 1.1 - and boy did it live up to its name!

Unfortunately losing two teammates due to illness, we started with a five-rider lineup keen to get stuck in and embrace the chaos. Our team included Sophie Lewis, Lucy Lee, Frankie Hall, Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne and Tiffany Keep.

Our approach to this race was to ride the wave and enjoy the race, attacking the various gravel and cobble sectors and seize opportunities.

The race started off at a high speed, and the chaos and carnage began. Frankie, Lucy, Charlotte and Sophie did a great job of staying out of trouble near the front, where Sophie unfortunately had to later withdraw due to an injury sustained from a previous crash. With the bigger picture in mind, she’ll be lining up later this week for the World Tour Race - Ride London.

Meanwhile, Tiffany Keep suffered an early crash within the first 30km and had to fight back to the front group over the next 65km. Charlotte did a fantastic job helping her leapfrog up the road, eventually regaining contact with the front group, which included teammates Frankie and Lucy.

Charlotte unfortunately came down in a bad crash and had to abandon the race after an awesome effort. With 50km to go, we had three riders represented in the reduced peloton and the end was in sight. Frankie was involved in a high-speed crash, sadly dislocating her shoulder and as a result was unable to finish.

With just under 30km to go, the pace elevated ten-fold, splintering the group into three: a breakaway of twelve riders, a chasing group including Tiffany, and the third group on the road including Lucy.

It came down to a sprint within the three groups, and after a long and extremely arduous race, Tiffany rolled over the line in 23rd, scoring her first UCI points of the European season and Lucy 48th despite a late crash.

This race was far from straight forward, and the girls can be extremely proud of how they rode and fought until the end. Those involved in crashes are thankfully okay and will be lining up again later this week on the next start line. Bikes and faces covered in mud, this event was nothing short of epic, and a day they will never forget!

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