The Irish riders got their campaign off to a solid start on day one of the track World Cup in Beijing today. Sean Downey finished a fine fourth out of fifteen riders in heat two of the men’s points race, clocking up six points and ending level with third-placed rider Artur Ershov (Lokomotiv).
He went on to contest the final and was nineteenth there. Zach Bell (Canada) took two laps out of the field and won comfortably ahead of Ho Ting Kwok (Hong Kong Pro Cycling) and Thomas Scully (New Zealand).
In the men's individual pursuit, Ukrainian Vitaly Shchedov beat Australian Michael Hepburn with a time of four minutes 26.722 seconds. This was just over three seconds off his qualifying time. Valery Kaikov (Lokomotiv) took the bronze medal ahead of Rasmus Christian Quaade (Denmark).
Ireland’s Marcus Christie was nineteenth in a time of four minutes 43.194.
They were amongst a large number of Irish riders who recently had a training camp in Aigle, Switzerland. The main goal is to secure qualification for various events at the track world championships in Copenhagen at the end of March.
Cycling Ireland previously announced the Irish Team for the Track World Cup; it is uncertain if there were any last minute changes. The riders concerned were Christie, Downey, Aaron Buggle, Matt Brammeier, Stephen Barrett and Martyn Irvine.
Tomorrow will see four riders take part in the team pursuit, as well as others entering the scratch race and 1km time trial.
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World Cup IV, Beijing, China, January 22-24, 2010
January 22, Day 1: Men: Team Sprint, Points Race, Individual Pursuit; Women: Individual Pursuit, Scratch Race, Sprint
Irish events/results:
Men's Points Race Qualifying Heat 1:
1, Thomas Scully (New Zealand) 30, pts
2, Lukasz Bujko (Poland) 26
3, Po Hung Wu (Chinese Taipei) 25
Men's Points Race Qualifying Heat 2:
1, Ho Ting Kwok (Hong Kong Pro Cycling) 10, pts
2, Zachary Bell (Canada) 7
3, Artur Ershov (Lokomotiv) 6
4, Sean Patrick Downey (Ireland) 6
Men's Points Race Final:
1, Zachary Bell (Canada) 50 pts
2, Ho Ting Kwok (Hong Kong Pro Cycling) 38
3, Thomas Scully (New Zealand) 36
4, Angelo Ciccone (Italy) 34
5, Artur Ershov (Lokomotiv) 32
6, Carlos Torrent Tarres (Spain) 31
Other:
19, Sean Patrick Downey (Ireland)
Men's Individual Pursuit Qualifying:
1, Vitaliy Shchedov (Ukraine) at 4 mins 23.564
2, Michael Hepburn (Australia) at 4 mins 26.029
3, Rasmus Christian Quaade (Denmark) at 4 mins 26.096
4, Valery Kaikov (Lokomotiv) at 4 mins 27.455
5, Alexander Serov (Russia) at 4 mins 28.224
6, Xuelong Qu (China) at 4 mins 28.903
Other:
19, Marcus Christie (Ireland) at 4 mins 43.194
Men's Individual Pursuit Final:
1, Vitaliy Shchedov (Ukrainezzz) at 4 mins 26.722
2, Michael Hepburn (Australia) at 4 mins 27.969
For bronze:
3, Valery Kaikov (Lokomotiv) at 4 mins 27.648
4, Rasmus Christian Quaade (Denmark) at 4 mins 27.731
