The group she was in may have been swamped at the line, but Elinor Barker still stood out at Gent-Wevelgem, recording her best result in a WorldTour race as her return from maternity leave gathers pace.
The British rider effectively missed her first season with Uno-X Women Pro Cycling Team in 2022 after becoming pregnant with her first child in the summer of 2021. She once again paid tribute to her ‘open-minded’ team as she re-launched her road career in style.
Barker has always favoured the track, with Olympic gold already to her name but is now giving the road a crack for the first time in her career. It was supposed to happen in 2022 but she’s making up for lost time.
“It’s really nice to be back,” a shivering Barker told Cyclingnews after a rain-soaked edition of the prestigious Spring Classic. “I’m not sure where I came, to be honest, but that was definitely my best result in a WorldTour race.”
Indeed it was, with seventh place trumping her previous best of 28th from a stage of the 2018 Emakumeen Bira. It might have been even better, though.
Barker survived the Kemmelberg before jumping into a strong attack with 15km to go, which was never going to catch solo winner Marlen Reusser (Team SD Worx) but looked like a group for podium contention until they were rounded upon by the main bunch inside the final kilometre.
Still, Barker managed to sprint to seventh place, which, given four of the five riders who beat her in that sprint came from the back, indicates a podium finish had been on the cards.
“That was a pretty horrific day – just so cold,” Barker said, barely able to get her words out through chattering teeth.
“It was hard to say I really enjoyed it. It was type 2 kind of fun – I’ll probably see it differently when I’m warm.
“It was really fun to be attacking and to be in that group, though. It’s frustrating not to stay away at the end but it’s all good. It was just nice to be up there.”
Barker made a trio of sporadic road racing appearances last year, before returning to the track for the first time as a mother at the European Championships last month. She kicked off her road season at the Vuelta CV and Volta Comunitat Valenciana before a pair of semi-classics at Le Samyn and Nokere Koerse.
Gent-Wevelgem represented a major step up, in terms of distance, competition and Barker’s own performance. She’ll now look ahead with confidence to Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen and Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, but she’ll also reflect on the journey…
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