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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
Irish Riders Competing in UCI Para Road World Cup, Belgium
By Cycling Ireland
20 May 2016,
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A large number of Irish riders are competing in the UCI Para Road World Cup in Belgium this weekend, in the last opportunity for riders to seek selection for the Paralympic Games in Rio. Ireland has qualified four male bikes and two female bikes for the Games and with competition tight for these positions, twelve bikes will be competing across the Time Trial and Road Race events over three days, with competition taking place in Ostend, Belgium, from the 20-22 May.
Speaking ahead of the World Cup, National Performance Coach, Neill Delahaye said “This second round of the UCI Para Road World Cup is a landmark event for us. We have a record number of entries which shows the dynamism and progression of our domestic Paracycling programmes. Everyone is keen to perform at their best as these races are one of the last viable opportunities to earn Rio selection points and provide a valuable opportunity to race against the same bikes and nations we expect to be competitive at the Games. There is a big entry for this World Cup and we are looking forward to mixing it with the best in the world once more.”
The number of riders competing for the six slots for the Paralympic Games is testament to the growth in both numbers and standard of Paracycling in Ireland. The World Cup takes place in Ostend, Belgium over the weekend of 20-22 May.
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Irish Riders in 2016 UCI Para Road World Cup, Belgium
Eoghan Clifford C3
Liam Cullinane T2
Katie-George Dunlevy & Eve McCrystal WB
Martin Gordon & Ian Inglis MB
Tom Kelly H4
Colin Lynch C2
Aidan Mullane C2
Peter Ryan & Sean Hahessy MB
Declan Slevin H3
Ciara Staunton H2
Damien Vereker & Marcin Mizgayski MB
Seamus Wall H4
About Classification in Paralympic Sport: Classification is a unique and integral part of Paralympic sport. It provides the structure to separate athletes with similar levels of impairments into groups, or classes as they are commonly known, so they can compete in fair and equal competitions against one another, and ensure that winning is determined by skill, fitness, power, endurance, tactical ability and mental focus. This same principle exists in non-Paralympic sports where athletes are classified according to age, gender or weight divisions to allow for as fair competition as possible.
In para-cycling there are fourteen classifications based on functional disability type. B refers to the tandems, where the stoker is blind or visually impaired, and the pilot is sighted. H represents the handcycling events, and C refers to cyclists on regular, but adapted, solo bikes, who may have cerebral palsy, limb impairments and amputations. In these events the categories have numbers denoting the level of impairment, the lower numbers the more severe the impairments and the higher less so.
For more information on Para-cycling visit:
http://www.uci.ch/para-cycling/about/
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