The morning session at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow for the European Championships saw Robyn Stewart qualify to the 1/16 finals in the Women’s Sprint, finishing 13th in the qualifiers with a time of 11.287. In the Women’s Individual Pursuit also featured strong Irish performances, with Kelly Murphy 11th with a time of 3.39.317 and Mia Griffin 21st with 3.48.605.
Stewart was pleased with her morning race, saying – “I’m happy with today’s performance, I wasn’t thinking so much about the time I was doing but about the process as I went along, my lines and where I was applying pressure, and I think that works so much better for me, cos I was so much more relaxed going in.
“And thirteenth, it was close to getting into the top ten. I think I just missed out by just under a tenth. It’s certainly a big improvement on last year.
Belfast born Stewart learnt to track cycle in this Velodrome after watching the Commonwealth Games four years ago and was motivated for a good performance. She will now be competing in the match sprint this afternoon in what is a cat and mouse type race, where tactics come into play.
“It is actually really special to be back here cos this is where I learned how to ride a bike basically, in 2015. It was really nice when I was going around cos I could hear my name and I know a lot of the folk here so it was really special.
“It’s a very unusual track, this, it has got really long straights and it’s fairly flat on the top so it feels quite different to ride and it can catch you out in the sprints, because the longer straights usually mean people can die off in the sprints.
“Your 200m is really just your ticket into the race, no-one can be taken for granted at this stage. Where someone might be strong at riding a 200, others might be technically really strong.”
Kelly Murphy was the fastest finisher in the Women’s Individual Pursuit this morning, finishing eleventh with a time of 3.39.317. A recent recruit to track cycling Murphy raced a strong 3km pursuit, coming within 5 seconds of the national record of 3.34.257 set by Caroline Ryan in 2013. This was Murphy’s first pursuit in competition after just three weeks of track riding and the Irish National TT Champion will now switch her focus to the Time Trial on Wednesday.
“I didn’t really have any expectations as it was my first track race ever, it was quite nice to go in with a calm head – the pressure was off and the crowds aren’t too big. I’m pretty pleased and it set the barometer for future events.
More used to the longer time trials, the short 3km race against time felt different for Murphy – “It was over very quickly. It’s crazy – I’ve been riding my bike for three years, had three weeks of a training camp for three minutes of racing! It’s surprising how much preparation goes into it, there’s no last minute changes, and it was over and done with before I realised. You don’t do efforts like that on the road! You can pace it a little bit slower!”
Mia Griffin finished in a time of 3.48.605. Griffin came into the Irish track cycling programme through talent transfer last year and was happy with her race. Her focus now moves to the U23 European Championships in Aigle later this month where she will once again compete in the Individual Pursuit.
“I was happy with that – it was my first ever 3km in competition, and it’s my first year riding track, so the goal was to gain experience and set a benchmark for myself that I can chip away at. I was happy enough with it, the first 2km went to plan, and after that a little bit of fitness was lacking. I know what I can work on and where I need to improve.”
Next up for Griffin is the U23 European Championships in Aigle – “Now that I have a time, I want to see how much I can chip off that. Not put any pressure on and see what happens.”
This afternoon will see Stewart compete in the Sprint at 2pm, Felix English takes on the four-race omnium and Lydia Gurley will compete in the Points Race. Over the six days of track racing the twelve-rider Irish team will compete in fifteen events in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.
History is made this week when Glasgow and Berlin host the inaugural European Championships, an exciting multi-sport event bringing together some of the continent’s leading sports, including the existing UEC cycling championships.
RESULTS
Women’s 3km Individual Purusit
Gold Ride Off
Katie Archibald (GB) 3.30.893
Vs
Ina Savenka (BLR) 3.34.233
Bronze Ride Off
Coralie Demay (FRA) 3.34.563
Vs
Gudrun Stock (GER) 3.34.775
11th Kelly Murphy (IRL) 3.39.317
21st Mia Griffin (IRL) 3.48.605
Women’s Sprint 200m q – top ten to 1/8 rest to 1/16 finals
1st Emma Hinze (GER) 10.887
2nd Mathilde Gros (FRA) 10.893
3rd Daria Shmeleva (RUS) 10.959
13th Robyn Stewart (IRL) 11.287