Boylan 8th in Scratch Race - Track World Cup

Positive Performances on Final Day of Racing at Track World Cup in Cambridge, New Zealand

Top Irish Sprinter Eoin Mullen finished 21^st in the Sprint at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Cambridge, New Zealand, with a time of 10.111 seconds. In the Keirin Shannon McCurley placed 13^th after an impressive second place finish in the repechages. In the final race of the World Cup for Ireland, Lydia Boylan finished 8^th in the Scratch Race. This was the second World Cup on the 2015/16 calendar, and ran from the 4^th – 6^th December.

Mullen advanced from the 200m qualifiers to compete against New Zealand’s Edward Dawkins in the 1/16 finals, however on home soil Dawkins took the victory here and progressed to the next round, where he was eventually edged out of the bronze medal by Maximillian Levy (GER). With a time faster than top riders including the reigning World Champion, Gregory Bauge (FRA), Mullen impressed Coach Brian Nugent; “That was a good performance by Eoin today. He qualified through in a World Class field and applied himself well in the next round.”

Shannon McCurley raced well in the Keirin, where she finished second by just 0.2 seconds to Tania Calvo Barbero (ESP), with the Spanish rider progressing to the next round, putting McCurley in 13^th position overall.  With this World Cup being one of the final Olympic qualifying events it was important to gain points, Nugent said ”Shannon raced well to place 13^th, and gained good points in doing so.”

In the final race of the day for the Irish team Lydia Boylan competed in the Scratch Race, where she finished in a credible 8^th place in a world class field, rounding off a positive weekend for the young Irish team. Nugent summed up the weekend saying “8^th in the Scratch Race by Lydia ended the World Cup on a good note. The squad are learning every time they race and we look towards the next world cup in Hong Kong now.”

The final World Cup in the 2015/6 season is in Hong Kong and will take place from the 16-17^th January. The World Championships will take place in London from the 2^nd -6^th March.

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