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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
Team Announcement UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles, USA
By Heather Boyle
8 Feb 2017,
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Cycling Ireland have confirmed that a team will be competing in the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles, USA, which takes place from the 2-5 March 2017. Martin Gordon and pilot Eamonn Byrne will be making their debut in the Men’s Tandem, competing in the Men’s B Tandem Sprint events. They will be supported by Mark Kiely as Team Manager.
At the Paralympic Games in Rio Ireland performed sensationally across the endurance events, winning five medals, including two Paralympic titles. The endurance riders are not participating in these Championships as they continue to build towards the Road Racing Season which starts with the 2017 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup in Maniago, Italy in May. The Championships run from Thursday 2nd March until Sunday 5th March.
Cycling Ireland Performance Coach Neill Delahaye is looking forward to the World Championships saying -
“We are very happy to be able to provide this opportunity to a new pairing for these World Championships. Most of our Paracycling success on the track has been with the endurance based events, but the success and dynamism of the Paracycling Programme in recent years means we have athletes involved who are showing potential in other areas such as sprinting.”
“Martin has been on the Development Squad for the last couple of years and this is a new partnership with Eamonn. They are an exciting prospect. Eamonn is an experienced and accomplished sprinter and with the sprint events back on the Tokyo Paralympic programme of events we are excited to see what they can do. “
This is the first time that a World Track Championships for Para-cycling has been held in the post-Paralympic season, and this is the first competition for the Irish team since the Paralympic Games in Rio. It will take place in the Velo Sports Centre Velodrome, Los Angeles, USA from the 2nd – 5th March.
Irish Team for 2016 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships
Martin Gordon (Stoker), M Tandem B Sprint, Dublin
Eamonn Byrne (Pilot), M Tandem B Sprint, Sundrive Track Team, Dublin
Coach: Neill Delahaye
Manager: Mark Kiely
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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/
Cycling Ireland Website: www.cyclingireland.ie
Paralympics Website: www.paralympics.ie
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