Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal delivered Ireland’s second medal of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships on Friday, August 4th.
The women’s tandem pair took victory in the bronze medal ride against France, leading from the opening time split to take a resounding win.
Reunited on the track after missing the 2022 Para-cycling Track World Championships, the duo once again proved a winning formula as they added another medal to their list of accolades as a tandem pairing.
Their time of 3:28.792 saw them finish .409 seconds ahead of their French rivals and secure third place on the podium.
🗣️ “We just fought to the line and we were able to get that bronze medal. I can't quite believe it really!”
Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal react to winning bronze at the Para-Cycling Track World Championships #GlasgowScotland2023 pic.twitter.com/ZmPE4SykS6— Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) August 4, 2023
Katie George Dunlevy said: "I'm emotional, really really relieved. I was just so nervous going into that race. We didn't have a great ride the other day and we were working on a few things yesterday in the 1km (time trial) - we were just trying to deliver what we did yesterday today. We just fought to the line and we were able to get that bronze medal. I can't quite believe it really!"
Emily Kay picked up a 12th place finish in the women’s scratch race after battling hard throughout. Among the top ten riders with four laps to go, Kay finished strong to take 12th.
A large contingent of Irish riders also took part in the Gran Fondo World Championships in Glasgow. The Gran Fondo World Championships includes mass participation Road Races and Time Trials with riders competing in their respective age groups. Riders are timed on course and compete to get their best time, with the top riders competing for medals.
In the Road Race, Marine Lenehan won silver in the 19-34 age category and Julie Rae won bronze in Medio Fondo (a shorter race) in the 55-59 age group.
In the Track World Championships, Ireland’s women’s team pursuit squad finished 9th in the qualifying round, narrowly missing out on progression to the next round. The team maintain a positive trajectory for Paris 2024 qualification with the top 10 ranked nations qualifying a spot for the Olympics.
On Monday, 7 August, 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.
Lara Gillespie and Alice Sharpe finish 12th in the Madison at the Track World Championships 👏
Both riders were involved in seperate crashes but battled on and never gave up 👊#GlasgowScotland2023 pic.twitter.com/eNGalHCjFW— Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) August 7, 2023
The duo weren’t phased however and kept a high pace in the following laps to pick up another point in a sprint before a chaotic finale.
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.
