CHRIS BURNS SET a new national record on his way to finishing 6th in the MC2 1km Time Trial at the UCI World Championships in Glasgow.
Earlier in qualifying, Burns set a new record to qualify in 6th place with a blistering time of 1:14.377. In the final, Burns matched his qualifying performance. After four events on track, the Banbridge man placed sixth overall in the Omnium rankings, consistent with his performance in Paris at the 2022 World Championships.
Ireland enjoyed a largely positive day at the Championships as the majority of the action saw the focus firmly on the track in Glasgow.
Along with Burns, there were encouraging performances for Richael Timothy and men’s tandem duo Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen in the Para-cycling Track World Championships while Alice Sharpe and Lara Gillespie battled through a tough women’s madison race in the Track World Championships.
Racing in their final event of the Para-Cycling Track World Championships, tandem duo Martin Gordon and Eoin Mullen competed in the Sprint final to determine 5th and 6th place.
Racing against USA, Ireland duo made a decisive early attack which they held right until the line to finish 5th.
Richael Timothy was in action today competing in the WC3 500m time trial setting a time of 42.354. Timothy has one event left – Tuesday’s scratch race.
In the Track World Championships, Lara Gillespie and Alice Sharpe combined for the 30km madison race. In a tough field, Ireland earned a point in an early sprint to sit in eighth but as the favourites upped the pace, much of the field were lapped as Ireland dropped to eleventh place.
Sharpe suffered a crash with an Australian rider but was quick to her feet and continued before another crash with nine laps to go saw Gillespie crash after a Dutch rider fell into her path, seeing the race neutralised.
Gillespie too was able to get back on her bike and continue as the Irish pair finished the race in 12th place.
“Lara’s crash was really unlucky there,” Sharpe said after the race. “She got smashed down onto so there was nowhere (to go) and then I just got caught by a resting rider, whether to go left or right and I picked the wrong way and then I crashed.”
“But on the whole, it was quite a positive race. Worlds is always a level up from the Nations Cups so whilst we did lose a lap, I think we can be pleased with our performance as a whole and there’s something to work on moving forwards.”
“Last year at worlds we were just totally outclassed and yeah it was quite demoralising, but I think we’ve taken a big step forward here so it’s something positive to work on for the next lot of Nations Cups and hopefully to take into the Olympics because that was still a good performance and we’ll still have good points there for qualification.”The Gran Fondo Individual Time Trials took place today with a number of Irish riders competing across a range of age categories.
After coming agonisingly close to medalling in the Gran Fondo Road Race on Friday, Paul Kennedy sealed an impressive silver medal in the 40-44 age group today in the 22.8km Time Trial.
Results – Monday, 7 August
Para-Track
Men C2 1km Time Trial – Final (Omnium): Chris Burns – 6th (event & overall)
Women C3 500m Time Trial – Final (Omnium): Richael Timothy
Men B Sprint – 5-6 Final : Martin Gordon & Eoin Mullen - 5th
Track
Women Madison 30km: Alice Sharpe, Lara Gillespie
Gran Fondo
Individual Time Trials – Full Results
Paul Kennedy (40-44) – 2nd
Tuesday 8 August Schedule
15:00 Men Elite – Qualifying: Dino Jeffers
Cross-Country
11:30 Men Elite Short Track Qualifying: Chris Dawson
Para-Track
17:49 Women C3 10km Scratch Race – Final (Omnium): Richael Timothy
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