Ireland’s Female Tandem Finishes Fourth at Para-cycling Track World Championships
The Irish tandem pairing of Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal has finished fourth in the WB 3km Pursuit at the UCI 2016 Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy. Dunlevy and McCrystal qualified for the bronze medal ride off with the fourth fastest time, where they would meet GB. While 0.15 seconds separated the two bikes in the qualifying rounds, Great Britain’s pairing of Lora Turnham and Corrie Hall pushed ahead in the finals to win the bronze medal. The women’s tandem was the best placed Irish bike in a full day of racing for the team. In the Men’s C1-2-3 Scratch Race both Eoghan Clifford and Colin Lynch progressed to the final which takes place on Sunday. This is an event won by Eoghan Clifford in 2015. The championships run from the 17th March to the 20th March in the Montichiari Velodrome in Brescia, Northern Italy.
In riding into the bronze medal final Dunlevy and McCrystal knocked 3 seconds off the Irish National Record, finishing in a time of 3.35.924, this time was within half a second of qualifying for the gold medal final, so Dunlevy while being pleased with the progress, was disappointed with the result, saying “We got a PB, a new National Record, so I’m happy we made a lot of gains, but I’m disappointed with fourth. We were hoping to get into the gold/silver final, and were so close to getting there. It’s disappointing to have missed out on a medal but we have to look at how far we have come. We are three seconds faster than we were in November, and I know there’s more to come from me. When it comes out we will be even faster, the disappointment is fresh, but we have to look at the bigger picture. The gap between gold/silver and bronze last year was a lot bigger, so we have to look at that too, and keep it going.”
In Para-cycling there are very few opportunities to compete on the track. The next competition after the Worlds will be at the Paralympic Games in Rio. Dunlevy and McCrystal will be competing in the 1km Time Trial and Sprint this weekend, with a goal of breaking national records but also gaining valuable and rare track race experience. Dunlevy said “It’s a pity there’s not more competition on the track. We’re really going to go for it tomorrow in the Kilo, and in the Sprint on Sunday. We’re aiming for National Records, but it’s time on the track. There’s no pressure on us though, so we’ll try for the record and see where we come.”
The Men’s Tandem finished 9th in the MB 4km Pursuit qualifiers in a fantastic performance which saw them shave 10 seconds off their previous best time. Peter Ryan and Sean Hahessy’s time of 4.21.359 is an Irish best time at sea level, and bodes well for the relatively new pairing in their first major championships together.
Yesterday Ireland came away with a silver and bronze medal following the performances of Colin Lynch in the MC2 3km Pursuit and Eoghan Clifford in the MC3 3km Pursuit. Racing continues tomorrow with both tandems competing in the 1km Time Trial. The UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships take place from the 17-20 March in Montichiari, Italy.