Ireland stay on track for world championship success

Following the superb performances of the Irish track team at World Cups in Colombia and Los Angeles, the focus is turning towards next month’s track world championships.

Based on their recent showings, Irish riders can head there with realistic expectations of success. Mark Downey won the points race in the Apeldoorn World Cup in November, then took the same event last month in Cali, Colombia. His performances saw him secure overall victory in the World Cup standings for that event, a superb feat.

Downey also took a silver medal in the Madison event in Cali with Felix English and then, last weekend, the duo raced to gold in that discipline in LA. This was the first time Irish riders have achieved team success at this level.

Aside from that statistic, the manner of their win was also hugely impressive. The duo stamped their authority on the race and sealed victory by taking a lap right before the conclusion of the event. English had earlier taken fourth in the scratch race, only losing out on silver when he was pipped by two riders inside the final metres.

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The Irish strength in depth is illustrated by several other recent performances. In Cali, Lydia Gurley landed bronze in the women’s scratch race, while Lydia Boylan won the opening round of the women’s Omnium and finished sixth overall.

Other riders have also performed encouragingly, reflecting a general improvement in standard.

Most successful

“This was the most successful World Cup series we have ever had,” Cycling Ireland’s technical director Brian Nugent said on Thursday. “Cali was the most medals we have ever won at a World Cup. We have done a lot of hard work in the last two years and have increased the number of riders training in Majorca.

"We have also brought on David Muntaner as a coach. He is fantastic. We are really happy with the progression."

The Irish team will take a short break and then head to their training base in Majorca to build up towards the big objective, the UCI track world championships. The championsips take place in Hong Kong between April 12th and 16th.

The achievements of the team has further underlined the need for an indoor velodrome in Ireland. Recent performances and previous success such as Martyn Irvine’s track world championship gold in 2013 have been achieved despite the country lacking such a venue.

Cycling Ireland CEO Geoff Liffey said on Thursday there was no clear construction date for a velodrome at Sport Campus Ireland, but that the Taoiseach Enda Kenny had recently given a commitment to competing the campus.

“The hope would be that the velodrome is done at the same time as phase two of the indoor arena,” Liffey said. “Ireland has a strong talent pipeline already and a home velodrome would only increase the chances of success.”