Irish Team Ready for Action in London
The Irish cycling team has arrived at London’s Lee Valley VeloPark ready to compete at the UCI 2016 Track Cycling World Championships which take place from Wednesday 2nd March to Sunday 6th March. The team will be competing in eight events across four days. Racing for the Irish team begins with the Women’s Individual Pursuit on the 2nd March, and continues until the 5th March with the Women’s Points Race. This weekend will also be the final opportunity for Irish riders to gain Olympic qualification points in the Men’s Sprint, Women’s Keirin and the Women’s Team Pursuit.
Melanie Spath is the first Irish rider in action, competing in the Individual Pursuit on Wednesday afternoon. The German born rider will be competing in the 3km race against the clock at 14.40, with the finals later that evening. Wednesday will also see Felix English compete in the 15km Scratch Race, a bunch event which was famously won by Ireland’s Martyn Irvine in 2013. English is a top class rider in his own right, having finished 4th in this event at the final World Cup in Hong Kong earlier this year.
On Thursday the Women’s Team Pursuit will be competing, along with Shannon McCurley in the Women’s Keirin. This is the first time that Ireland has qualified a women’s keirin rider for the World Championships. Lydia Boylan competes in the Scratch Race later that evening. Eoin Mullen will be in action on Friday in the Men’s Sprint, and English competes once more, this time in the Points Race. On Saturday Caroline Ryan will be the only Irish rider competing, when she races in the Points Race, an event in which she won bronze in 2012.
Speaking from London Technical Director Brian Nugent was looking forward to the week of racing saying;
“It’s great to have a large team here in London and in a range of events across endurance and sprint for both men and women. The team will be competitive and have worked hard this winter to be in the position they are in now. We’ll see the benefits of all that hard work this week.”
Racing at the UCI 2016 Track World Championships takes place in the London Lee Valley VeloPark from 2-6 March 2016. BBC and Eurosport will be broadcasting the highlights of the events throughout the championships.
Full Team:
| Women’s Team Pursuit (final four to be confirmed) Caroline Ryan Eimear Moran Josie Knight Lydia Boylan Melanie Spath | Women’s Individual Pursuit
Melanie Spath |
| Men’s Sprint Eoin Mullen
| Women’s Keirin Shannon McCurley
|
| Men’s Points Race
Felix English | Men’s Scratch Race
Felix English |
| Women’s Scratch Race
Lydia Boylan | Women’s Points Caroline Ryan |
PROVISIONAL Competition Schedule - Irish team at UCI Track Cycling World Championships
(All times quoted are approximate and schedule may be subject to change)
| Day 1 – Wednesday 2nd March | Results | ||
| 14.40 | Melanie Spath | Women’s Individual Pursuit | |
| 19.20 | Felix English | Men’s Scratch Race | |
| Day 2 – Thursday 3rd March 2016 |
| ||
| 13.07 | Riders TBC | Women’s Team Pursuit | |
| 14.40 | Shannon McCurley | Women’s Keirin | |
| 19.20 | Lydia Boylan | Women’s Scratch Race | |
| Day 3 – Friday 4th March 2016 |
| ||
| 09.00 | Eoin Mullen | Men’s Sprint | |
| 20.30 | Felix English | Men’s Points Race | |
| Day 4 – Saturday 5th March 2016 |
| ||
| 19.08 | Caroline Ryan | Women’s Points Race | |