The Irish team is all set for the Tokyo Paralympics, with the men and women in green set to get their campaign in Japan under tomorrow on the track before moving on to the road.
Five years ago Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal won silver in the road race and gold in the TT in Rio. After finishing the TT they had no idea how they had done. And when news of their win was broken to them - while they were flaked out exhausted from their race - the video of their reaction was one of the moments of the Paralympics.
Since then they have gone on to win six world titles - three in the TT and three in the road race. In Tokyo - their third Paralympics - they will ride the 1km TT on the track in the early hours of Thursday morning, before the 3km pursuit in the early hours of Saturday morning.
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And on the road - where they have always secured their best results - they will compete in the TT early next Tuesday morning and then complete their Paralympics campaign on the morning of Friday week in the road race.
However, while Dunlevy and McCrystal are the stars of the cycling team, we have plenty of other talent who have made the cut and secured Paralympic selection and they may also be able to get up into the medals.
Richael Timothy won bronze in her scratch race at the Worlds in Canada earlier this year and she will be competing on road and track in Tokyo. She gets the Irish cyclists' campaign underway tomorrow morning in the individual pursuit qualifying. She will also ride the 500m TT on Friday, the road TT next Tuesday and the road race on Friday week.
Ronan Grimes, who took bronze at the Worlds earlier this year on the track in the individual pursuit, gets his Paralympic effort underway on Thursday in the 1km TT before riding the pursuit the following day. He rides the TT next Tuesday and road race on Friday week.
Martin Gordon and Eamonn Byrne are also in the team for Tokyo and previously won a silver in the 200m sprint at the UCI World Cup in London in 2018. They get their Paralympics underway in the early hours of Saturday morning in the 1km TT before starting the road race on Friday week.
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Gary O'Reilly will face the longest wait of the Irish riders to get into action in Tokyo as he is riding on the road only, with no track racing. He is in TT next Tuesday morning before riding the road race the following day.
Track Schedule: Irish times
Wednesday, 25th August
- Women’s C1-C3 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualifying: Richael Timothy, 2:00am to 2:42am
Thursday, 26th August
- Women’s B 1km Time Trial: Katie-George Dunlevy & Eve McCrystal, 2:00am to 3am
- Men’ C4-C5 1km Time Trial: Ronan Grimes, 6:00am to 7:12am
Friday, 27th August
- Women’s C1-C3 500m Time Trial: Richael Timothy, 2:00am to 2:39am
- Men’s C4 4000m Individual Pursuit Qualifying: Ronan Grimes, 2:39am to 3:14am
Saturday, 28th August
- Women’s B 3km Individual Pursuit Qualifying: Katie-George Dunlevy & Eve McCrystal, 2:00am to 2:45am
- Men’s B 1km Time Trial: Martin Gordon & Eamonn Byrne, 3:21am to 4:09am
Road Schedule: Irish times
Tuesday, 31st August
- Women’s C1-3 Time Trial: Richael Timothy, 12:00 to 3:30am
- Men’s H5 Time Trial: Gary O'Reilly, 12:00 to 3:30am
- Men’s C4 Time Trial: Ronan Grimes, 5:30 am to 8:15am
- Women’s B Time Trial: Katie-George Dunlevy & Eve McCrystal, 5:30 am to 8:15am
Wednesday, 1st September
- Men’s H5 Road Race: Gary O'Reilly, 1:30am to 3:38am
Friday, 3rd September
- Men’s C4-5 Road Race: Ronan Grimes, 1:30am to 3:42am
- Women’s C1-C3 Road Race: Richael Timothy, 1:35am to 2:47am
- Women’s B Road Race: Katie-George Dunlevy & Eve McCrystal, 5:00am to 7:30am Women’s B Road Race: Martin Gordon & Martin Byrne, 5:18am to 7:45am
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