Consistent Squad Narrowly Miss Out on Finals
A solid performance from Ireland’s Women’s Team Pursuit Squad saw them finish in 11th place in the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Cambridge, New Zealand, with a time of 4.34.029. Racing in the second round of the World Cup series, the time of the Irish quartet was within 1.576 seconds of qualifying for the finals where the medals are contested. In the team pursuit the top eight teams from the qualifying rounds move to the next round, the Irish team were within striking distance of qualifying. Racing in New Zealand runs from the 4th – 6th December.
The team who are in their second season together are at the brink of breaking into the next level. Coach Brian Nugent was pleased with their performance “The team rode well and they’re very consistent now. They’ve made a big jump this year and are now competing well in every event, gaining valuable experience every time they race. They’re very close to breaking into that top tier now.”
Next on the track in New Zealand are Eoin Mullen in the Sprint and Shannon McCurley in the Keirin. Both riders will be competing on Sunday morning local time, which means that they will be racing on Saturday evening Irish time. The New Zealand World Cup runs from 4th – 6th December, the below schedule lists races in local time as well as Irish time.
Full Team:
| Women’s Team Pursuit Caroline Ryan Lauren Creamer Josie Knight Lydia Boylan Melanie Spath
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| Men’s Sprint Eoin Mullen
| Women’s Keirin Shannon McCurley
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RESULTS:
1 Canada 4:19.359
2 Australia 4:20.157
3 New Zealand 4:23.382
4 USA 4:24.965
5 Italy 4:30.148
6 Belarus 4:30.547
7 China 4:30.818
8 Great Britain 4:32.453
11 Ireland 4:34.029
PROVISIONAL Competition Schedule - Irish team at UCI Track Cycling World Cup, New Zealand
(All times quoted are approximate and schedule may be subject to change)
| Day 1 – Friday 4th December 2015 | Results | ||
| 13.00 local time 00.00 Irish time | Caroline Ryan Josie Knight Lauren Creamer Melanie Spath | W – Team Pursuit Qualifying | 11th 4.34.029 |
| Day 3 – Sunday 6th December 2015 |
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| 09.00 local time 20.00 (Sat 5th Dec) Irish time | Eoin Mullen | M – Sprint 200m TT Qualifying |
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| 11.30 local time 22.30 (Sat 6th Dec) Irish time | Shannon McCurley | W – Keirin 1st Round |
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