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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
Gurley Takes Lap and Fourth Place in Track World Cup Debut
By Cycling Ireland Media
6 Nov 2016,
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Fabulous Fourth for Gurley in Scratch Race: UCI Track Cycling World Cup – Glasgow
Ireland’s Lydia Gurley finished agonisingly close to a medal at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Glasgow today, with fourth place in the Women’s Scratch Race. Making her Track World Cup debut this weekend Gurley already has shown immense talent finishing sixth in the Women’s Madison yesterday with Lydia Boylan. In the Women’s Team Sprint the duo of Robyn Stewart and Eimear Moran finished 8th having qualified to the second rounds. Boylan was also in action today finishing 15th in the Women’s Omnium. This is the first World Cup on the calendar and took place in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow from the 4-6 November.
From Athenry, in Galway, Gurley was one of five riders to lap the field in the 40 lap Scratch Race, and just missed out on a medal on the finish line. In this event the first person over the line is the winner, so for endurance riders the advantage of taking a lap means that fewer riders are in contention for the medals. The race was won by Elise Delzenne from France with Japan’s Minami Uwano taking silver. Bronze went to Russia’s Evgeniya Romanyuta, with Ireland in fourth place.
Gurley was happy with her result “I enjoyed the race. The plan was to try and get away; it took a few laps but I made it with another rider [Uwano]. It was difficult to conserve energy as there were more attacks - in total five riders took a lap in separate groups. I was suffering by the end but I’m really happy with the result.”
In the Women’s Team Sprint Stewart and Moran qualified for the second round with a time of 36.146, half a second faster than the time they posted in the European Championships in October. In the second round bronze medallists, Russia, beat the Irish team, putting them in eighth place overall. In the Women’s Omnium Boylan won two of the sprints in the final Points Race, but it was not enough to net a higher position than 15th place in the event in which she finished 6th at the European Championships in Paris last month.
This was the first Track World Cup in the 2016/2017 season, Ireland need to send a team to all four World Cups in order to qualify for the World Championships in Hong Kong, but they do not need to send a full team. Next week will see an Irish Team compete in the second World Cup in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, next weekend, from the 11-13 November.
RESULTS
4th Nov
Men’s Sprint - Eoin Mullen - 27th 10.283
Women’s Team Pursuit - TBC - 10th (4.42.204)
Women’s Keirin - Shannon McCurley - 7th
5th Nov
Men’s Keirin - Eoin Mullen - 17th
Women’s Madison - Lydia Boylan - 6th
Women’s Madison - Lydia Gurley - 6th
6th Nov
Women’s Team Sprint - Eimear Moran - 8th 36.146
Women’s Team Sprint - Robyn Stewart - 8th 36.146
Women’s Scratch - Lydia Gurley - 4th
Women’s Omnium - Lydia Boylan - 15th
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Sixth for Women’s Madison: UCI Track Cycling World Cup – Glasgow
5th November 2016
The Women’s Madison of Lydia Boylan and Lydia Gurley have finished sixth at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Glasgow today. The duo picked up seven points in the event that was introduced to the international race calendar in a measure to bring gender equity to the number of championship events. GB were the eventual winners, pipping second placed France in the closing stages of the 80 lap race. Eoin Mullen finished 17th
in the Men’s Keirin, having finished 3rd in his repechage, with just the top rider progressing. This is the first World Cup on the calendar and takes place in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow from the 4-6 November.
In the Madison the two Lydias raced well from the start, picking up the maximum five points in winning the second sprint, following that with more points later in the race. Ireland moved into second place early in the race, behind France, and slipped down to sixth by the final lap in a race which saw a phenomenal finish by GB, winning four of the following sprints. The Madison is a bunch race with two riders competing for each nation. Racing in a relay format the riders sling each other into action every couple of laps, taking turns to race the distance. The women’s event is 80 laps, or 20km. Every ten laps there is a sprint lap, with points on offer for the top finishers, the last lap has double points on offer.
Tomorrow is a busier day on the track for the Irish team, with Marc Potts making his World Cup debut, competing in the Individual Pursuit, along with the Women’s Sprint Team of Robyn Stewart and Eimear Moran. The two Lydias are back in action with Boylan competing in the Omnium and Gurley in the Scratch Race.
The Track World Cup in Glasgow runs from Friday 4th November to Saturday 6th November in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow
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Seventh for Shannon in Keirin: UCI Track Cycling World Cup – Glasgow
4th November 2016
This weekend the Irish Track Team is competing in the Glasgow at the first Track Cycling World Cup in the 2016/2017 season, in Glasgow, Scotland. The first day of racing in the three day event saw sprinter Eoin Mullen finish 27th with a qualifying time of 10.283 and the Women’s Team Pursuit finish tenth in a time of 4.42.204. Ireland’s first female track cycling Olympian Shannon McCurley was competing in the Keirin, where she romped home in 7th place, winning the minor final for 7th – 12th place. This is the first World Cup on the calendar and takes place in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow from the 4-6 November.
Cycling Ireland Technical Director Brian Nugent outlined the objectives for the team in Glasgow saying “Shannon raced very well winning her final and finishing 7th. This is her best result at this level; she’s jumped a level since racing at the Olympics and showed that again today. For these early World Cups the main focus is on integrating the new members into the team and securing world’s qualification early on. We are down a few key riders in the Team Pursuit, so with a new line up out there, I’m pleased with the team’s performance and that new riders are getting the opportunity to gain experience.”
UCI recently announced changes to the UCI track racing calendar, which saw both a change in the schedule of racing and the introduction of a new system of qualification for World Championships. In terms of qualifying for the World Championships Ireland must enter a team in each of the four World Cups, but this does not need to be a full team. World Championship qualification is based on world ranking as well as presence of an Irish team at each of these events, along with competing at the European Championships.
Nugent is happy with the new qualification process; “The changes suit us a lot more than the previous qualification system. It puts less pressure on us financially and also allows us to focus better on the progression of the rider with the Worlds as the focus, rather than chasing qualification points in all the World Cups.”
The race programme at events now includes the Women’s Madison event for the first time, in a move to bring a gender balance to the number of medals being presented at the World Championships. The structure of the relatively new Omnium event was also altered, to focus solely on bunch events, favouring the endurance rider, with four races being contested on one day, as opposed to six events across two days of racing.
The Track World Cup in Glasgow runs from Friday 4th November to Saturday 6th November in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.
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