History maker Megan Armitage’s victory in Spain is ‘a boost for all women racers’

The sleepy hilltop town of Piornal in Extramadura, Spain, may seem an unlikely place for a pivotal event in Irish cycling, but on March 12th history was made there.

On a twisting uphill road approximately four kilometres from the finish, Megan Armitage and Canadian Clara Emond surged clear. The two Arkéa Pro Cycling riders had been part of a breakaway on the final stage of the Vuelta Extremadura Féminas and they played their hand on the climb to Piornal.

Emond made the initial acceleration; Armitage was the only one strong enough to answer, and once clear they worked well together. Their team-mate Maaike Coljé tried to bridge across but each time she got close, Armitage drove up the pace, ensuring a two-women sprint to the line.

She proved strongest there, easily beating Emond to win the stage. That secured the overall race victory, as well as the points classification plus second in the mountains competition.

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“I went into that race knowing that the course suited me,” Armitage tells The Irish Times. “I knew that the general classification was going to come down to the last day. I said, ‘whatever happens, I’m going to give it everything.’ I had good luck and good legs and it all went my way. I was very happy.”

The Vuelta Extremadura Féminas isn’t the biggest event in the world but, in taking the overall standings, she became the first Irishwoman ever to win a UCI-ranked stage race. That’s a big leap forward.

From Shinrone in County Offaly, Armitage is a former runner who was sidelined by injury in early 2020. She took up cycling that March, began racing that September and finished eighth in the national championships one month later.

She began competing abroad in 2021, winning a criterium race in Belgium that August, and riding solidly in UCI-ranked events. Armitage then finished second behind Imogen Cotter in the nationals that October.

Last season saw further progress, including fourth and seventh on stages and 11th overall in the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l’Ardèche plus a dominant victory in the national criterium championships. Not bad for someone so new to the sport.

“I think I’ve progressed a lot,” she says. “Obviously, I haven’t been doing it for so long. So each year you’re learning more. I’m getting a bit stronger on the bike, and I’m also just learning more about race tactics, even though I have a huge amount of work still to do.

“Like, you can train the house down. You can put in all the hours you want. But if you can’t make splits [staying in front when the peloton breaks apart] and if you can’t position yourself in a bunch, then you’re not really at anything. But that obviously takes time, and the only way that you can improve that is by racing.”

Valerie Considine has done huge work to advance women’s cycling in Ireland. She is the race director of the international Rás na mBan and a past chairperson of Cycling Ireland’s women’s commission. She is impressed by Armitage.

“Megan’s victory is a real thrill and a fabulous boost for all women racers,” she said on Wednesday. “For Megan it’s a landmark moment in her career and it’s also reflective of a new impetus for development on the women’s side of the sport.”

She added that Armitage’s achievements plus those of fellow professionals such as Lara Gillespie, Mia Griffin, Alice Sharpe, Fiona Mangan and Imogen Cotter are vital inspiration for the riders emerging at home.

Aside from her ambition and natural talent, Armitage’s development has also been aided by her partner Cyrus Monk. The Australian was with the Irish EvoPro Racing team in 2020 and got stranded in Ireland during the first Covid lockdown.

“We met on Strava. It’s the weirdest thing,” she says. “We both were training in the Slieve Blooms. He had all the KOMs [fastest segments] for the guys. And then I had them for the girls. We met up because we were both bored and there was nothing to do. It just continued from there.”

Monk began coaching the neophyte Armitage, teaching her about training and the sport’s complex tactics. That helped her progress, and so too the support of Irish legal firm Mason Hayes and Curran, which has been a personal sponsor since 2022. Securing a contract with Arkéa Pro Cycling has also been important.

Armitage has thrived within the French squad and believes it offers the perfect racing programme. “The good thing about my team is that we have a nice mix between doing WorldTour-level races and races where we get an opportunity to be really competitive and actually go for wins,” she says. “When I’m doing WorldTour races I get to learn about positioning and all that kind of thing. But then in the other races I get to hold on to that determination to win. It is a really good mix.”

The plan is to keep improving and, over time, to get closer and closer to the top riders in those big WorldTour events.

Next up for Armitage is the De Brabantse Pijl semi-Classic in Belgium on April 12th, Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry on April 16th and the WorldTour-ranked Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 23rd.

All going well, she will compete in the women’s Tour de France in July. The event is the highlight of the women’s calendar, particularly after organisers ASO put its vast financial clout behind it last year.

“I’m pretty sure our team is doing it and, all going well, I’ve been told pretty much that I will have a spot doing it,” she reveals. “I guess I have to just wait until I get there. But fingers crossed.”

If she is there, Armitage will be making history again. No Irishwoman has competed in the event before, and being at the start in Clermont Farrand on July 23rd would be a huge moment, both for her and for Irish cycling.

“It will be an absolute dream to be able to do it.”