LYDIA BOYLAN TODAY became Ireland’s second rider to medal at the Track Cycling World Championships after clinching silver in the women’s points race – just 48 hours on from teammate Mark Downey’s bronze in Poland.
“It still hasn’t sunk in that I’ve finally done something on the world stage,” she said after the race.
“It’s a big boost of confidence for me, for sure.
That sort of racing suits me, because I know I can just dig deeper – we push ourselves so hard in training.”
The medal – Boylan’s first ever at a world event – could have even been upgraded to gold, as she led her rivals with five laps to go.
But the 31-year-old admitted that her challenge ran out of steam coming into the final stages.
“I kept taking a sneaky look up at the leaderboard, and I knew I needed to move up. I moved up and I gave it my best, but the legs fell off a bit in the last couple of laps. I still can’t believe it.”
The result comes just a day after she and Shannon McCurley helped earn Ireland a top 10 finish in the women’s madison, priming her for today’s sprint stages.
Boylan’s silver and Downey’s bronze are Ireland’s first mdeals at the championships in five years - Martyn Irvine last claiming silver in the scratch race in 2014.
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here: