Lucy Bénézet Minns Wins Gold in the Junior Track European Championships
The standout performance among the Irish success at the Junior and Under 23 UEC Track European Championships was Lucy Bénézet Minns winning the Junior Women Points Race on Saturday.
Speaking after the race, Bénézet Minns said:
“I rode really hard because I knew I needed to make the race hard in order to get a good result. The race spilt up earlier than I was hoping for it to, but I think I did a good job of managing my effort and staying on the wheels and then hitting people when they were tired. It was a good race.
“It’s really nice, I’ve not done that much track until this year at this level so it’s nice to see that I can perform at this level.
“I’m really thankful. I’ve had a lot of support over the last few years with my track so I’m just really grateful that I could pull off winning this jersey as a way of thanking everyone who has helped me over the years.”
On top of her gold medal winning performance, Bénézet Minns was sixth in the Junior Women Omnium on Friday. She showed great consistency across the four races, including winning the Tempo race and coming sixth in the Points race.
Erin Creighton, who is the reserve rider for the Women’s Team Pursuit at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, had two top ten finishes this week. On Thursday, she was fifth in the Under 23 Women Scratch race, and on Saturday, she was eighth in the Under 23 Women Omnium.
In the Omnium, Creighton was third in the opening Scratch race, 12th in the Points race, and eighth in both the Elimination and Points race.
Seven athletes were in action this week at the championships, in Cottbus, Germany.
Rhiannon Dolan, Mya Doocey and Lucy Bénézet Minns represented Ireland in the Junior Women category. Competing in the Junior Men events was Seth Dunwoody, Luca Holmes and Philip O’Connor. Erin Creighton was Ireland’s sole representative in the Under 23 Women’s endurance events.
Racing got underway on Tuesday 9th of July and the championships concluded today, Sunday 14th of July.
This year’s success marks the second consecutive year that Ireland have won a gold medal at the Junior and Under 23 Championships. Last year, Lara Gillespie won the Under 23 Women’s Points Race and the Under 23 Women’s Omnium.
Speaking about the success, Cycling Ireland High Performance Director Iain Dyer said:
“Very well done to Lucy, who deserves our congratulations on becoming European Champion this week. It’s a great achievement that demonstrates her potential.
“For some however, it was a tougher week, where we saw quite clearly where the level is, as well as the benefits of having year round access to indoor facilities to hone track craft from a young age.”
Results:
Click here for full results.
Tuesday
Junior Women Scratch Race
14th - Rhiannon Dolan
Under 23 Women’s Elimination Race
14th - Erin Creighton
Junior Men Scratch Race
DNF - Seth Dunwoody
Wednesday
Junior Men Elimination Qualification (Heat 1)
11th - Luca Holmes
Junior Men 1km Time Trial
16th - Philip O’Connor
Thursday
Junior Men Individual Pursuit
22nd - Luca Holmes
Under 23 Women Scratch Race
5th - Erin Creighton
Junior Women Elimination Race
13th - Rhiannon Dolan
Friday
Junior Women Omnium
6th - Lucy Bénézet Minns
Scratch
15th - Lucy Bénézet Minns
Tempo
1st - Lucy Bénézet Minns
Elimination
16th - Lucy Bénézet Minns
Points
6th - Lucy Bénézet Minns
Junior Men Omnium
20th Philip O’Connor
Scratch
18th Philip O’Connor
Tempo
24th Philip O’Connor
Elimination
27th Philip O’Connor
Points
20th Philip O’Connor
Saturday
Under 23 Women Omnium
8th - Erin Creighton
Scratch
3rd - Erin Creighton
Tempo
12th - Erin Creighton
Elimination
8th - Erin Creighton
Points
8th - Erin Creighton
Junior Women Points Race
1st Lucy Bénézet Minns
Junior Men Points Race
13th - Luca Holmes
Sunday
Junior Women 500m Time Trial
17th Rhiannon Dolan
Under 23 Women Madison
11th Lucy Bénézet Minns and Erin Creighton
Junior Men Madison
DNF - Luca Holmes and Philip O’Connor