Mark Downey and Felix English have been very successful for Ireland but were disappointed with their 11th place in the madison at the European Championships.
Ireland’s Madison pair, who have been so successful in the past, came up short at the European Championships in Glasgow today.
Mark Downey and Felix English, who always carry big expectations for Ireland when they race, finished 11th on the Chris Hoy Velodrome
The Madison title was won by Belgium from Germany and Great Britain. The Irish qualified for the final from a heat in which they were forced to dig deeper than they hoped.
English said he and Downey, who have won World Cup gold in the past, were disappointed with the result.
“We had a really tough morning with the qualification, we had to go a lot harder than we thought we would,” he explained.
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“But I thought that if I rode a controlled race this afternoon it would have been okay. The things that we have improved on tactically have now shown up our other flaws."
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Felix English continued: “We are able to follow on the right laps and schedule in for the right time for the sprints which we could never do before.
“But now that we are on those laps, we are going too hard in the sprint. And (we’re going) from too far back. So positioning in the bunch is now our main focus."
Downey has spoken of late about how the Madison, now an Olympic event, is getting faster. And the contest in Glasgow proved no different.
“At the start of the race the plan is for me to go for the sprints. But then you have to be really fast for the lead in too,” he said.
“Most of the guys are paired up with two really quick guys. And the race is so fast now you can’t rely on strength; it’s just all speed.”
He added they would now focus on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics; a process begun at these Europeans.
“For qualification we need to be top eight in the rankings, and nations from other events will come out of that,” he said.
“But at the same time you don’t want to be relying on that – you want to get results.”
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