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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
Fifth for Clifford in Scratch Race at the Para-cycling Track World Championships
By Heather Boyle, Public Relations Officer
20 Mar 2016,
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Ireland’s Eoghan Clifford finished fifth in the MC1-2-3 Scratch Race at the UCI 2016 Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy today. The defending World Champion was racing in the final of the event alongside teammate Colin Lynch, who finished 13th, having both qualified last Friday. After a race in which he was heavily marked, it was disappointment for Clifford, at the end of a championship which saw him win bronze in the MC3 3km Pursuit.
The event was won by Aleksey Obydennov (RUS), with Fabio Anobile (ITA) and Esneider Munoz Marin (COL) taking silver and bronze. Also in action today were the male tandem pairing of Peter Ryan and Sean Hahessy and the female tandem of Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal, the latter breaking the national record in the qualifying 200m with a time of 12.259. This netted a 6th place finish for the women, with Ryan and Hahessy finishing in 17th overall. This was the final day of racing in the championships which took place in the Montichiari Velodrome in Brescia, Northern Italy.
Speaking from the velodrome Eoghan Clifford was disappointed with the result, as he had ridden an aggressive race; “It was tough; I tried to make it tough, so I’m disappointed, fifth was not what I came here for. I wanted the gold medal, and at least a medal. I may not have had my best legs, but I had the legs to win it. I had a few attacks off the front of the race, and when the Aussie guy (David Nicholas) went for a lap. I did a good bit of work to chase it down, stringing out the bunch behind me. The guys said that I was pretty heavily marked though too.”
Clifford is looking forward to a recovery week following the particularly testing block of training in this early part of the year saying “I’m going back to Galway; mentally I need a break now to take stock of the past few months. I’ll take a few days off the bike before getting back up and running. It will be good to draw a line under the early part of the season.” This echoes tandem stoker Peter Ryan who said “Next week is an unload week, as much for the head as the body. Since January we have been looking forward to and preparing for this weekend, so there’s now a bit of mental fatigue, so it will be good to recalibrate and refocus.”
National Performance Coach Neill Delahaye was happy with the performance of the team over the championships and is motivated for the next part of the year and the preparation for the Paralympic Games in Rio, saying “We are happy with our performances, particularly in the targeted events, so we are confident that we are making progress, but there is still work to do before Rio, fine tuning to be done. The trajectory of improvement our bikes have made in time gains in our PBs is in excess of our competitors. Our improvement is greater, but we still have a gap to bridge. While we went better than ever; we need to go better again for the Games.”
Two medals and seven top ten results rounds off a successful world championship campaign for the Irish team, with the next track competition for the paracyclists being the Paralympic Games in September. The UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships took place from the 17-20 March in Montichiari, Italy.
PROVISIONAL Competition Schedule - Irish team at UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships
(All times quoted are Irish time; approximate and schedule may be subject to change)
Day 1 – Thursday 17th March 2016 Results
17.00 Colin Lynch M C2 3km Individual Pursuit Finals Silver
17.15 Eoghan Clifford M C3 3km Individual Pursuit Finals Bronze
Day 2 – Friday 18th March 2016
08.00 Dunlevy & McCrystal W B 3km Individual Pursuit Finals 4th place 3.35.924
08.40 Ryan & Hahessy M B 4km Individual Pursuit Finals 9th place 4.21.359
13.40 Eoghan Clifford M C3 1km Time Trial 12th 1.15.331
14.30 Dunlevy & McCrystal W B 3km Individual Pursuit Finals 4th Place
18.20 Colin Lynch Eoghan Clifford M C1-2-3 Scratch Race Qualifiers Both Qualified
Day 3 – Saturday 19th March 2016
15.15 Dunlevy & McCrystal W B 1km Time Trial 10th place 1.12.778
16.00 Ryan & Hahessy M B 1km Time Trial 17th place 1.06.36
Day 4 – Sunday 20th March 2016
08.00 Dunlevy & McCrystal W B 200m Sprint Qualifying Round 6th qualifying time 12.259sec
08.25 Ryan & Hahessy M B 200m Sprint Qualifying Round 17th place 11.499sec
13.10 Eoghan Clifford Colin Lynch M C1-2-3 Scratch Race Finals 5th place 13th place
16.30 Dunlevy & McCrystal W B Sprint Finals 6th place
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News Release, 19th March 2016
More PBs on Day Three of the Para-cycling Track World Championships
Day three of the UCI 2016 Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy saw the male and female tandems compete in the 1km Time Trials, with both bikes recording personal best times. Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal finished in tenth place in the WB 1km TT with a time of 1.12.778 which was a sea level PB for the pair. Peter Ryan and Sean Hahessy followed with a personal best time of 1.06.36, which was just outside the national record. This was the first major championship for the two Tipperary men who have been training together for the past six months. The championships run from the 17th March to the 20th March in the Montichiari Velodrome in Brescia, Northern Italy.
While the focus of the Para-cycling team has been on the endurance events, like the pursuit, the opportunity to race in a Velodrome doesn’t happen too orten, so both bikes grabbed the chance to race. Ahead of the event Dunlevy said “We’re aiming for national records. There’s no pressure on us, though, so we’ll try for the record and see where we come.” The tandem’s time of 1.12.778 was a sea level personal best time, and netted a top ten finish. Dunlevy and McCrystal narrowly missed out on the bronze medal in the WB 3km Pursuit yesterday.
In the Men’s Tandem Ryan and Hahessy were happy to get another PB, acknowledging that they are both endurance riders, so were happy with their performance. Ryan said “It was another PB so you have to be content with that. We’re never training for the kilo, so it really was fleshing out the weekend, so we’re happy going home.” Yesterday they rode a fantastic race in the MB 4km Pursuit, Ryan said “Yesterday was a tale of two stories, you’re never delighted with 9th, but then if you gave us 4.21 before the race, we’d have bitten our hand off for it. It would have got a silver medal last year! It’s just the year that’s in it. Myself and Sean are just 6-7 months together, and we just knocked 6-7 seconds off the last competition in November.”
Hahessy is a strong rider on the national road racing scene, so the past few months has brought with it a lot of change, he said “I’m new to tandem racing and to track racing. On the tandem it’s technically different (to the solo bike), but also you have to adjust to it being more than one person. On the road a time trial is 20-30 minutes long, but here you have to get all that effort out in 4 minutes, and you are governed by the bends on the track, so you have spikes and dips in power.”
On the opening day of these championships Colin Lynch and Eoghan Clifford won silver and bronze in their respective Pursuit competitions. Tomorrow they will both line up in the finals of the MC1-2-3 Scratch Race where reigning World Champion Clifford will be looking to defend his title. While he will be a marked man, it will be beneficial having two Irish riders in the race together. The tandems will also be in action in the Sprint events. The UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships take place from the 17-20 March in Montichiari, Italy.
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Irish Team for 2016 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships
Eoghan Clifford, MC3 Individual Pursuit, MC1-3 Scratch Race, MC3 Kilo TT (TBC), from Galway Bay CC, Co. Galway
Colin Lynch, MC2 Individual Pursuit, MC1-3 Scratch Race, MC2 Kilo TT (TBC), from Cheshire in England
Katie-George Dunlevy & Eve McCrystal, WB Individual Pursuit, WB Kilo TT, WB Sprint Dunlevy from Maidenhead in England, McCrystal from Dundalk, Co. Louth
Peter Ryan & Seán Hahessy, MB Individual Pursuit, MB Kilo TT, MB Sprint (TBC), Ryan from Drombane, Co. Tipperary, Hahessy from Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary
Coach Neill Delahaye
Manager Tommy McGowan
Mechanic Eoin Murphy
Mechanic Steven Franzoni
Physio Johnny Loughrey
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