Mark Downey and Felix English clocked up the third medal for Ireland at the track World Cup in Cali, Colombia on Sunday, netting a superb silver in the Madison event.
Downey had previously won the points race and teamed up with English for the 120 lap event. The duo finished behind Casper Von Folsach and Niklas Larson of Denmark, and ahead of the Russians Andrei Sazanov and Viktor Manakov.
On Saturday Lydia Gurley was third in the women's scratch race.
“That was definitely a nail biter,” Downey said after Sunday’s event. “Everything was running smoothly and when we made the first move David [Muntaner, team coach] gave the signal and we settled into the rhythm at 70 laps and got the lap with the Danes - they were strong.
“Then Felix made a move with 17 laps to go. I was totally spent. But it seems to be everyone else was ten times worse than us so we caught the bunch four laps from the finish, and the Danes caught the bunch with two laps to go. That pushed us down to second. I’m pretty sure the Irish fans enjoyed that one as much as we did.”
English had gone close to a medal before but this was his first time on the podium in a World Cup.
The duo are aiming to ride the event in the 2020 Olympic Games.
