LARA GILLESPIE revealed she “nearly lost my life” after a horrifying accident during a recent race.
The Enniskerry cyclist was competing on the last day of La Vuelta Femenina when the incident took place.
She ultimately helped the UAE Team ADQ finish 15th overall but that was not before a harrowing near miss on the rain-soaked Spanish mountain road.
Speaking to Off The Ball, Gillespie – who represented Ireland at the Paris Olympics – explained: “It wasn’t very nice, to be honest.
“It did kind of put racing into perspective a little bit or just like these descents into perspective of how quickly things can go wrong.
“In the end, nothing did happen and I’m very lucky and I didn’t even get badly injured.
“I got a big fright and a big scare.
!I was just going over the top of a climb and it had been lashing rain so the surface…road surface in Spain is like ice after the rain.
“I think I took the turn too tightly.
“My back wheel skidded and somehow went in the air and I was going head first over the crash mat barrier thing.
“I hit the end of the crash mat but was then on this metal barrier.”
In an ironic twist of fate, the cyclist behind the 24-year-old also went down and inadvertently saved Gillespie’s life.
She continued: “I was really lucky that the girl behind me also crashed and landed on my bike and her body weight kept me down.
“I was looking down over a cliff and I thought, ‘yeah, if i went, I was going.’
While she ‘only’ sustained bruised ribs and a bruised hip, the knowledge that it could have gone so much worse took an instant toll.
“I got pulled back by the motorbikes – the safety people – back onto the road and I was immediately crying which would be very unusual for me.
“I quickly got back on my bike and kept going but then I was dangerous going down because I was just crying and couldn’t see.
“There is still 60km of the race left but I had done my job already because I was helping the climber that day.
“I just thought I would get to the end but it took a bit of a psychological blow but luckily I have people to talk to about that.
She added: “I definitely was going from crying panic, thinking, ‘oh, my God, I nearly lost my life’ and then thinking I am fine.
“When I got back to the bus, I was bawling my eyes out and everyone was like you don’t even look like you crashed because I just bruised my ribs and my hip from the barrier.”
