Ireland’s McCurley Finishes in Strong Seventh in Scratch Race in European Championships
Ireland’s Shannon McCurley finished impressively in the Women’s Scratch Race to earn seventh place at the 2014 UEC Track Elite European Championships in Baie-Mahault, Guadaloupe yesterday. The sprint specialist is no stranger to top results, having won a bronze medal in the U23 Women’s Scratch Race at the European Championships in 2011. Lydia Boylan also competed in the Scratch Race, finishing 20th. In what was a full day of racing for the Irish team, riders were in action throughout the evening and night. These Championships mark the first step in the Rio Olympic Qualification Process for the Irish Team, with riders competing across Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines in the French Caribbean Velodrome. The European Championships run from Wednesday the 15th October to Sunday the 19th October.
With the Velodrome in Baie-Mahault being an outdoor venue, racing was delayed during the day on account of bad weather, splitting the qualifiers in the Men’s Sprint events, delaying Eoin Mullen’s start time. However, once the Aigle based rider got on the track he produced a fast time of 10.522, which was 0.288 seconds off the fastest time of the day. This put him in 13th place and qualifying him for the 1/16 finals. Unfortunately Mullen narrowly missed out on advancing to the 1/8 finals, after a defeat by Czech’s Adam Ptacnik.
Day one of the Men’s Omnium didn’t quite go to plan for Martyn Irvine, when he finished 11th in the Scratch Race and Individual Pursuit. Caught out in the first round of the Elimination Race put Irvine into 13th place in the standings going into Day two, where all is still to play for. Speaking after the day of racing Head Coach Brian Nugent said “Martyn had a difficult day and struggled with the conditions. Anything that could go either way in the races just went the wrong way for him, but that’s bike racing and we’ll just keep working away.”
However, he was pleased with the overall performances of the riders, and particularly impressed with McCurley’s race, saying “That was a super ride by Shannon; she rode a tactically good race, and used her strength at the finish to push hard for a top placing.”
Both Cormac Clarke and Thomas Fallon competed in the Men’s Points Race, where they fought hard until they were forced to retire before the finish. These riders are still in the U23 ranks, with the main goal of gaining experience throughout this Championship event.
Nugent was happy with their approach “The younger guys on the team are gaining so much experience from the races. They are so hungry to race and recognise the opportunity available to them by just being here, that they are giving it absolutely everything. As a coach you couldn’t be happier when you see that across the board.”
Today’s action will be dominated by the Omnium events, with Day 2 of the Men’s Omnium with Martyn Irvine, and Caroline Ryan competing in the Women’s Omnium. Ryan Mullen will also be competing in the Men’s Individual Pursuit, an event in which he came fourth at the World Championships earlier this year. The UEC Track Elite European Championships run from the 15th – 19th October.
RESULTS
Women’s Scratch Race:
1 ROMANYUTA Evgenia RUSSIA
2 BERTHON Laurie FRANCE
3 CECCHINI Elena ITALY
7 MCCURLEY Shannon IRELAND
20 BOYLAN Lydia IRELAND
Men’s Points Race:
1 THOMAS Benjamin FRA
2 BERTAZZO Liam ITA
3 BOMMEL Henning GER
DNF FALLON Thomas IRL
DNF CLARKE Cormac IRL
Men’s Sprint:
1 TBC
2 TBC
3 TBC
13 MULLEN Eoin IRL
Men’s Omnium Standings Day 1:
1 ERSHOV Artur RUSSIA 108
2 ELORRIAGAZUBIAUR Unai SPAIN 106
3 DIBBEN Jonathan GREAT BRITAIN 104
13 IRVINE Martyn IRELAND 48
| Day 3 – Saturday 18th October 2014 |
| 14.30 | Caroline Ryan | Women Omnium I Scratch Race 10km |
|
| 14.50 | Ryan Mullen | Men’s Individual Pursuit – Qualification 4km |
|
| 16.00 | Martyn Irvine | Men Omnium IV Kilometre TT |
|
| 16.36 | Caroline Ryan | Women Omnium II Individual Pursuit 3km |
|
| 21.44 | Martyn Irvine | Omnium V Flying Lap |
|
| 00.08 | Ryan Mullen | Men’s Individual Pursuit 3-4 Final and 1-2 Final |
|
| 00.44 | Caroline Ryan | Women Omnium III Elimination Race |
|
| 01.26 | Martyn Irvine | Men Omnium VI Points Race 40km |
|