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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
Fourth for Dunlevy and McCrystal, Sixth for Gordon and Byrne
By Heather Boyle, CI Communications Officer
26 Mar 2018,
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Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal finished fourth, and just outside the medals in the Women’s B Tandem Sprint at the UCI 2018 Para-cycling Track World Championships tonight. Their qualifying time of 11.892 seconds was an incredible 3.5 seconds faster than the current national record of 12.259 seconds. The eventual winners were the Great Britain bike of Sophie Thornhill and Helen Scott, who have been dominant all week.
In the men’s tandem event, more national records tumbled with sprinters Martin Gordon and Eamonn Byrne smashing the previous record with a time of 10.539 seconds and qualifying as sixth fastest bike. The duo progressed to the match sprint where they were beaten by the Netherlands pairing of Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos.
In the final cat and mouse match sprint the Irish powerhouses were forced to settle for sixth when Macedonia took the win. This was a very positive outing for Gordon and Byrne who have been focusing on the sprint, an event that features in the Paralympic Games.
Also in action was Ronan Grimes, who has been enjoying some top results in his first track cycling races at a major championships. The Men’s C4 rider was competing in the MC4-5 Scratch Race, finishing eighth overall – but third fastest C4 bike. Unfortunately, this did not result in a medal for the Scott-Orwell Wheeler, as medals were awarded for the overall category winners solely.
In the Women’s B Tandem Sprint McCrystal and Dunlevy were delighted with their qualifying sprint, which put a second medal hope within their grasps.
“We got what we came for, and now we are going to have fun in the match sprints,” said McCrystal directly after their 200m sprint when they clocked a time 0.367 seconds faster than the longstanding national record set by Paralympic medallists Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan in 2012.
“We are going to have fun in the match sprints, and try and get a medal,” added McCrystal ahead of their quarter final race against New Zealand. The Paralympic and Double World Champions progressed to the semi-finals with a win.
In the semi-finals the duo, who won bronze earlier this week in the Women’s B Tandem 3km Individual Pursuit, were outpowered by eventual winners Great Britain, and were beaten by Belgium in the race for bronze.
Speaking at the end of what was a successful week McCrystal reflected on their success, saying “we had a great weekend – bronze in the 3km pursuit, a national record for our flying 200m, and fourth overall in the sprint. Both of us will take a lot of positives out of that weekend.”
The attention for the team will now switch to the road, with preparations for the Road World Cups and the Road World Championships already in place. McCrystal said - “we will both take a few days off and then put our heads down for the start of the road season which kicks off in May.”
This brought to an end what was a hugely positive weekend for the Irish team with a bronze medal and eight top ten finishes!
The UCI 2018 Para-cycling Track World Championships took place in the Velódromo do Rio, Brazil from the 22nd – 25th March.
RESULTS
W B Sprint
Gold Great Britain (10.891q)
Silver Australia (11.016q)
Bronze Belgium (11.654 q)
Irish
Fourth Ireland (11.892q)
M B Sprint
Gold Great Britain (9.765q)
Silver Netherlands (10.134q)
Bronze Great Britain (10.127q)
Irish
Sixth Ireland (Gordon & Byrne) (10.539q)
M C4-5 Scratch Race
Gold CHAMAN Lauro Cesar (Brazil)
Silver DONOHOE Alistair (Australia)
Bronze ABRAHAM GEBRU Daniel (Netherlands)
Irish
Eighth GRIMES Ronan (Ireland)
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Top ten for Grimes and Women’s Tandem at Para Track Worlds
News Release, 24th March 2018
Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal finished seventh in the Women’s B Tandem 1km Time Trial at the UCI 2018 Para-cycling Track World Championships tonight, with a time of 1.12.509. The Great Britain bike of Sophie Thornhill and Helen Scott won in a phenomenal time of 1.05.079 – almost a second faster than the world record.
Earlier today Ronan Grimes was eighth in the Men’s C4 4km Individual Pursuit with 4.55.538. The Galway born rider has made a solid mark for himself in his world championship debut this week. The Individual Pursuit was won by Jozef Metelka from Slovakia; Kyle Bridgwood (Australia) won silver and Jaco Van Gass (GB) took bronze.
In the Men’s B Tandem 1km Time Trial sprint specialists Martin Gordon and Eamonn Byrne kicked off their own worlds campaign, finishing 14th with a time of 1.05.507, just ahead of Peter Ryan and Sean Hahessy who were 16th with 1.06.426. Great Britain were dominant again, with the gold medal going to Neil Fachie and Matthew Rotherham in a time of 59.686.
Dunlevy and McCrystal won a bronze medal yesterday in the Women’s B Tandem 3km Individual Pursuit, and today they switched focus to the more sprint focused 1km Time Trial, or Kilo. Their time was just 0.2 seconds off their pb, which they set at the Paralympic Games in Rio in 2016.
Speaking after the event McCrystal said “We have to be happy with that! It’s not our favoured event, so to come away with that time is a good ride for us. We are in a good place for the season ahead.”
After the MC4 Pursuit, Grimes was happy with his result, describing a high standard race – “The standard of riders in the top ten today was very high, with most having medalled at world championships before. Going into it I thought I might have gone a couple of seconds faster, but perhaps got my pacing slightly off.
“Still, the results from today’s pursuit and Thursday’s kilo have left me with some good benchmarks to work on and improve on over the next season.”
In the Men’s B Tandem 1km Time Trials Ryan and Hahessy were one of the early starters but were forced to restart later after a mishap off the start. The pairing of Gordon and Byrne raced well to finish 14th. This is their second year competing at the Track World Championships, and they knocked a whopping 2.5 seconds off their 2017 time.
Tomorrow all tandems will be in action throughout the day, competing in the sprint events.
The UCI 2018 Para-cycling Track World Championships take place in the Velódromo do Rio, Brazil from the 22nd – 25th March.
RESULTS
W B 1km Time Trial
Gold Great Britain 1.05.079
Silver Australia 1.07.708
Bronze Belgium 1.08.314
Irish
Seventh Ireland 1.12.509
M B 1km Time Trial
Gold Great Britain 1.59.686
Silver Australia 1.00.535
Bronze Netherlands 1.00.755
Irish
Fourteenth Ireland (Gordon & Byrne) 1.05.507
Sixteenth Ireland (Ryan & Hahessy) 1.06.426
M C4 4km Individual Pursuit
Gold METELKA Jozef (Slovakia) 4.30.584
Silver BRIDGWOOD Kyle (Australia) 4.36.461
Bronze VAN GASS Jaco (Great Britain) 4.43.461
Irish
Eighth GRIMES Ronan (Ireland) 4.55.538
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