Jade Colligan was back racing at the National Road Series on the weekend at the Tour de Tweed. This was a three-day event centered on Murwillumbah in northern NSW and run in pleasant sunny weather.
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With 70 riders in the elite women's field, Jade was racing a 72km road stage on Friday, another 70km road race on Saturday that featured four major climbs and two gravel road sections, then for the final day of racing on Sunday there was a 10km individual time trial followed by a 34km criterium.
As the Friday road race came into the final kilometre, Jade was well positioned when barged by another rider and crashed at near sprinting speed. Three other riders also crashed here as Jade slid along the road on her hip and back.
Jade was able to limp to the finish and as she was in the lead group in the final kilometre, she was given the same race time as the lead group.
However Jade required some medical attention to areas of missing skin and to patch up some lacerations. A new set of race clothing was required as Jade returned to the race on the second day but with a sore back and hip that was to hamper her climbing.
Jade battled her way through the second 70km stage to finish in the second group and be in 32nd overall position. Then a return to more racing on Sunday in the time trail and criterium for a mid-field finish in a sore and battered state.
Jade had done extensive preparation for this event featuring many mountain efforts and long road rides. She will continue to travel to races over the next few months with two days of competition at Cootamundra next weekend and the Tour of King Valley at Wangaratta in Victoria along with the NSW elite road and time trial championships.
Local Nowra Velo Club racing continues next week with round eight of the Optus series as graded criteriums on the Albatross Aviation Tech Park circuit.
