Team Announcement UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy
Ireland has confirmed a strong competitive team for the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy which take place from 17-20 March. Once again Ireland will be entering four bikes in the championships across both sprint and endurance events. This year the focus of all riders will be on the Individual Pursuit, with 2015 World Champion in the Scratch Race, Eoghan Clifford also looking to defend his title. The decorated team includes former World Champion Colin Lynch, multiple-World Champion Eoghan Clifford and multiple World Medallists Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal on the women’s tandem. The new male tandem pairing of Peter Ryan and Seán Hahessy will be taking part in their first major championship together and will also be ones to watch. The Championships run from Thursday 17th March until Sunday 20th March.
The main focus for the Irish team will be on the endurance events, in particular the Individual Pursuit. This timed efforts against the clock is an event Team Ireland will target. All bikes will compete in the Pursuit, with Lynch and Clifford also competing in the Scratch Race, in the same Men’s C1-3 event. Last year Clifford surprised the field in this event by attacking with 25 laps to go, lapping the field to win the gold medal and world title. Both tandems will be competing in the Kilo Time Trial, which is a four lap race against the clock, and Dunlevy and McCrystal will also compete in the Sprint.
With the Irish Para-cycling team currently completing a block of training at the Cycling Ireland base in Palma, Mallorca, National Performance Coach Neill Delahaye is happy with how the training has been going, saying
“We are at the end of a very demanding training phase. This year’s camps have ramped up in intensity, as is to be expected in a Paralympic year, and the whole team has coped well with the extra load. They are now ready to give a good account of themselves in Montichiari. The riders have committed fully and put in a lot of hard work to get themselves in shape for these World Championships. Our main focus is on the endurance events but this year we will also be participating in some of the sprint events in order to make the most of the opportunity the championships provide as an intensive competitive training block. These World Championships are also the last UCI Nation ranking event counting for the Rio Paralympic Games. The team here are really motivated to put in some strong performances to help Ireland qualify as many bikes as possible for the Games.”
This is the last competition on the Paracycling calendar that offers qualification points for the Paralympic Games in Rio. The Irish team have a few days off before travelling to Italy on the Sunday 13th March. The World Championships take place in Velodromo Montichiari, Italy from the 17th – 20th March.
TEAM:
Eoghan Clifford,
Colin Lynch,
Katie-George Dunlevy & Eve McCrystal,
Peter Ryan & Seán Hahessy,
Coach
Neill Delahaye
Manager
Tommy McGowan
Mechanic
Eoin Murphy
Mechanic
Steven Franzoni
Physio
Johnny Loughrey
SCHEDULE:
| Day 1 – Thursday 17th March 2016 | Results | ||
| 9.45 | Colin Lynch | M C2 3km Individual Pursuit Qualifying Round | |
| 10.45 | Eoghan Clifford | M C3 3km Individual Pursuit Qualifying Round | |
| 17.00 | Colin Lynch | M C2 3km Individual Pursuit Finals | |
| 17.15 | Eoghan Clifford | M C3 3km Individual Pursuit Finals | |
| Day 2 – Friday 18th March 2016 |
| ||
| 08.00 | Dunlevy & McCrystal | W B 3km Individual Pursuit Qualifying Round | |
| 08.40 | Ryan & Hahessy | M B 4km Individual Pursuit Qualifiers | |
| 12.30 | Colin Lynch | M C2 1km Time Trial | |
| 13.40 | Eoghan Clifford | M C3 1km Time Trial | |
| 14.30 | Dunlevy & McCrystal | W B 3km Individual Pursuit Finals | |
| 14.45 | Ryan & Hahessy | M B 4km Individual Pursuit Finals | |
| Day 3 – Saturday 19th March 2016 |
| ||
| 12.30 | Dunlevy & McCrystal | W B 1km Time Trial | |
| 13.10 | Ryan & Hahessy | M B 1km Time Trial | |
| 16.10 | Colin Lynch Eoghan Clifford | M C1-2-3 Scratch Race Finals | |
| Day 4 – Sunday 20th March 2016 |
| ||
| 08.00 | Dunlevy & McCrystal | W B 200m Sprint Qualifying Round | |
| 08.25 | Ryan & Hahessy | M B 200m Sprint Qualifying Round | |
| 09.45 | Dunlevy & McCrystal | W B Sprints Knock Out Rounds | |
| 10.05 | Ryan & Hahessy | M B Sprint Knock Out Rounds | |
| 14.00 | Dunlevy & McCrystal | W B Sprint Finals | |
| 14.10 | Ryan & Hahessy | M B Sprint Finals | |