|
|
|
Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
IRISH TEAM REPORT FROMT UCI TRACK WORLD CUP IN POLAND
By Heather Boyle, Cycling Ireland Communications Officer
5 Nov 2017,
|
Email this article
|
FELIX ENGLISH 8th IN OMNIUM AT THE FIRST TRACK WORLD CUP
5th November 2017 Felix English finished 8th in the Omnium today at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Pruszkow, Poland, following a strong day of racing. In the Women’s Madison European silver medallists Lydia Boylan and Lydia Gurley finished tenth, and Shannon McCurley placed 21st in the Keirin. This was the final day of racing in the first World Cup of the track cycling 2017/2018 season, which ran from the 3rd – 5th November
In the Omnium English had a strong opening event, finishing third in the scratch race, this was followed by ninth in the tempo and fourth in the elimination placing him in a strong fourth place overall starting the final points race.
“Today was good, and then it didn’t finish so well,” contemplated English after his race, “I was fairly consistent throughout the day, but a combination of a few technical mistakes in the points race and not having the legs, to be honest, played a part in the points race.”
Last night English competed in the Madison with Mark Downey, where they finished 5th in what was the fastest recorded Madison, “Riding the Madison last night affected me a bit tonight – it was the fastest Madison of all time, we have got the points we need, and are in the mix for the World Cup.”
In the final event of the Omnium a phenomenal performance in the Points Race from Denmark’s Niklas Larsen saw him take three laps and win with over 40 points to spare from Szymon Sajnok (Poland) and Claudio Imhof (Switzerland).
The Women’s Madison was won by Belgium, who placed in every sprint, ahead of Great Britain and Italy. Ireland’s Boylan and Gurley had to settle for tenth in the 20km race.
In the Keirin Ireland’s only track Olympian Shannon McCurley was competing, finishing 21st overall, after placing fourth in the repechage. Gold went to German powerhouse Kristina Vogel, with Russia’s Daria Shmeleva taking silver and Stephanie Morton (Australia) bronze.
This brought to a close action in the first Track Cycling World Cup of the 2017/2018 season. Next week the Irish will be back in action at the second World Cup in Manchester.
RESULTS
Men’s Omnium
Gold LARSEN Niklas (DEN)
Silver SAJNOK Szymon (POL)
Bronze IMHOF Claudio (SUI)
Irish
8th ENGLISH Felix (IRL)
Women’s Madison Race
Gold Belgium (KOPECKY Lotte, D'HOORE Jolien)
Silver Great Britain (BARKER Elinor, NELSON Emily)
Bronze Italy (CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia, BALSAMO Elisa)
Irish
10th Ireland (BOYLAN Lydia, GURLEY Lydia)
Women’s Keirin
Gold VOGEL Kristina (GER)
Silver SHMELEVA Daria (RUS)
Bronze MORTON Stephanie (AUS)
Irish
21st MCCURLEY Shannon (IRL)
----
MEN’S MADISON FINISH 5th AT THE FIRST TRACK WORLD CUP
 |
| The Madison pairing of Felix English and Mark Downey confirmed their form by mixing with the top teams in the world. |
4th November 2017 Ireland finished the second day of race at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Pruszkow, Poland with two top five finishes. Marc Potts finished fifth in the Scratch Race, an event in which he is relatively new. The Madison pairing of Felix English and Mark Downey confirmed their form by mixing with the top teams in the world. Australia took gold, Belgium silver, and World Champions France took bronze ahead of Spain, who won the European title two weeks ago.
Speaking after the race Downey was pleased with their performance saying “We’re very satisfied with that performance this evening! To finish fifth behind teams who have all medalled in the Madison at the world championships is a very big improvement. The teams ahead of us are the four best in the world, and tonight we fought with them right until the end. That is by far our best performance as a team in this race, tactically it was our best!
The Madison has recently been added to the Olympic programme, and the Irish team have former World Champion, David Muntaner, as their track coach. Having medalled at two World Cups in this event last year, including one gold, Downey’s sights are firmly on the future -We didn’t medal, but we take a lot of positives out of this evening, and move forward. We won a round last year, but it was a year after the Olympics. Now the big riders are back, and tonight it was the fastest ever Madison recorded, with a time of 58kmph! That speaks for itself.”
 |
| Mark Potts |
In the Scratch Race Potts rode an impressive race, finishing fifth in the race which was won by Belgium’s Robbe Ghys. Edgar Stepanyan (ARM) and Roy Pieters (NED) won silver and bronze. Two weeks ago, at the European Championships, Potts competed in the Scratch Race for the first time at this level, finishing fourth. Tonight’s fifth place reconfirms the Tyrone man’s ability.
 |
| Lydia Boylan |
Lydia Boylan finished fifteenth in the Omnium, on a mixed day of action for the Dublin racer. In the Sprint, Robyn Stewart was 28th with a time of 11.480sec. Her time was fast enough to gain qualification for the 1/16th final, where she was beaten by Pauline Sophie Grabosch (GER), who eventually finished 5th.
Tomorrow is the final day of action in Poland, with European Silver Medallists, Lydia Boylan and Lydia Gurley competing. Felix English will be competing in the Omnium, which Shannon McCurley flies the flag for Ireland in the Keirin.
 |
| Robyn Stewart |
This is the first World Cup of the track cycling 2017/2018 season, and takes place from the 3rd – 5th November.
RESULTS
Men’s Scratch Race
Gold GHYS Robbe (BEL)
Silver STEPANYAN Edga (ARM)
Bronze PIETERS Roy (NED)
Irish
5th POTTS Marc (IRL)
Men’s Madison Race
Gold Australia (SCOTSON Callum, MEYER Cameron)
Silver Belgium (DE PAUW Moreno, DE KETELE Kenny)
Bronze France (MAITRE Florian, THOMAS Benjamin)
Irish
5th Ireland (ENGLISH Felix, DOWNEY Mark)
Women’s Omnium
Gold WILD Kirsten (NED)
Silver VALENTE Jennifer (USA)
Bronze DIDERIKSEN Amalie (DEN)
Irish
15th BOYLAN Lydia (IRL)
Women’s Sprint
Gold VOGEL Kristina (GER)
Silver MORTON Stephanie (AUS)
Bronze GROS Mathilde (FRA)
Irish
28th STEWART Robyn (IRL) 11.480 sec
Photo credit to Guy Swarbrick/TLP Routes to Market Ltd
----
DOWNEY TOP FINISHER WITH 8th ON FIRST DAY AT TRACK WORLD CUP
3rd November 2017 Mark Downey was the top finisher for Ireland in the first day of action at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Pruszkow, Poland, finishing 8th in the Points Race. Downey had qualified for the final earlier today, finishing second in his heat. Lydia Gurley finished 14th in her Points Race and 20th in the Scratch Race this evening.
Downey has had a dominant year on both the track and road, winning five medals at the track world cups last season, as well as recording Ireland’s top finish in the World Road Championships in September.
The gold medal in the Points Race went to Nikita Panassenko (Kaz), the only rider to lap the field. Greece’s Christos Volikakis, who was fifth in the recent European Championships, took the silver, with Liam Bertazzo from Italy winning bronze.
It was a busy night for recent European silver medallist, Lydia Gurley, with the finals of the Women’s Points Race and Scratch Race separated by just 40 minutes.
Gurley was pleased to be racing this week, following an injury at the London Six Day last week. Speaking after her race she said: “Considering that I spent last Saturday night in a London hospital thinking I broke my leg, I’m happy to be here giving it a go.”
An incident in last week’s Tempo Race was the cause “I crashed in the tempo race, and the pedal went into my leg. I still have some pain and swelling, but it’s time now to rest up and get ready for Sunday. Racing didn’t go my way today, but sometimes that’s the way it goes.”
Gold, silver and bronze in the Points Race went to the only three riders to lap the field – Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky (gold), Ganna Solovei from Ukraine (silver) and France’s Coralie Demay (bronze).
Earlier today the heats of the Scratch Race Marc Potts continued his top form, finishing second and qualifying for tomorrow’s final. Tomorrow will also see Robyn Stewart compete in the Sprint, Lydia Boylan in the Omnium, and the mighty duo of Mark Downey and Felix English compete in the Men’s Madison.
This is the first World Cup of the track cycling 2017/2018 season, and will take place from the 3rd – 5th November.
RESULTS
Women’s Points Race
Gold KOPECKY Lotte (BEL)
Silver SOLOVEI Ganna (UKR)
Bronze DEMAY Coralie (FRA)
Irish
14th GURLEY Lydia (IRL)
Men’s Points Race
Gold PANASSENKO Nikita (KAZ)
Silver VOLIKAKIS Christos (GRE)
Bronze BERTAZZO Liam (ITA)
Irish
8th DOWNEY Mark (IRL)
Women’s Scratch Race
Gold AVERINA Mariia (RUS)
Silver KACZKOWSKA Justyna (POL)
Bronze BALEISYTE Olivija (LTU)
Irish
20th GURLEY Lydia (IRL)
----
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: UCI TRACK CYCLING WORLD CUP I 2017
 |
| Mark Downey |
2nd Nov: Seven Irish riders will be competing in the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Pruszkow, Poland this weekend. This is the first World Cup of the track cycling 2017/2018 season, and will take place from the 3rd – 5th November. Racing kicks off tomorrow at 11am Irish time, with Mark Downey, Marc Potts and Lydia Gurley competing.
Gurley, who won silver at the European Championships in the Madison two weeks ago, will be competing in both the Points Race and the Scratch Race, looking to go one better than her fourth place in the Scratch Race at the Europeans in Berlin.
Relative newcomer to the Irish Team, Marc Potts, will also be keen to better his Berlin performance, where he came agonisingly close to a medal in the Scratch Race, finishing fourth.
Having performed outstandingly on both the track and road this year, Mark Downey will be competing in the Points Race, an event in which he won gold at three World Cups last season, and a bronze in the European U23 Championships.
SCHEDULE:
Friday 3rd November
Men’s Points Race: Mark Downey
Men’s Scratch Qualifiers: Marc Potts
Women’s Points Race: Lydia Gurley
Women’s Scratch: Lydia Gurley
Saturday 4th November
Women’s Sprint: Robyn Stewart
Women’s Omnium: Lydia Boylan
Men’s Scratch Final: Marc Potts
Men’s Madison: Mark Downey, Felix English
Sunday 5th November
Men’s Omnium: Felix English
Women’s Keirin: Shannon McCurley
Women’s Madison: Lydia Boylan, Lydia Gurley
----
Official Website: http://trackworldcup.pl/en/category/info-en/
Cycling Ireland Website: www.cyclingireland.ie
CI Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cyclingireland
CI Twitter: @irecyclingfed
|
|
|
|
