Lara Gillespie has been on an incredible run over a period of months, with two gold medals at last year's U23 European Championships and no fewer than three 4th places at the recent elite Europeans.
And now the 22-year-old from Co Wicklow has been in action once again overnight at the Adelaide UCI Nations Cup, with her consistency across the four events in the omnium taking her to a top 10 overall.
Gillespie had already been part of the team pursuit line-up that finished 8th in Adelaide, on Friday, and was also 10th in the madison, on Saturday, riding with Alice Sharpe.
She began her omnium today in qualifying heat 1 by placing 5th of the 15 starters, putting her into the race proper over the four events; scratch, tempo, elimination and points races.
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Gillespie, who was 4th in the omnium at the elite Europeans last month, got off to a solid start in the scratch race with 7th of the 23 starters. That race was won by Kiwi Ally Wollaston, who had already won the elimination race in Adelaide and also claimed a stage at the recent Tour Down Under.
In the tempo race, Gillespie was 6th, with that event won by Yumi Kajihara, the former omnium world champion and silver medal winner in the Tokyo Olympics.
In the elimination race, Wollaston was best again, from Olympic champion Jennifer Valente (USA). Ireland's Gillespie placed 18th, which was a disappointing for a rider of her calibre.
After the final event, the points race, Wollaston claimed the overall victory on a total of 134 points. Great Britain's Katie Archibald was 2nd, on 125 points, with Valente taking the bronze on 100 points, equal with Great Britain's Neah Evans in 4th.
Gillespie finished the omnium in 9th place on 69 points after a Nations Cup in which, crucially, the Irish team pursuiters - Gillespie, Sharpe, Kelly Murphy and Mia Griffin - picked up more points towards Olympic qualification.
