Ronan Grimes may have world and European titles, on the road, on his palmares already but when the Irish rider took a bronze medal - unexpectedly - at the UCI World Championships in Glasgow today, he was an emotional man.
The medal gets Ireland's campaign at these super-Worlds - where all disciplines are in the same place competing for titles - off to the best start. And with riders like the women's tandems already in line for medals - not to mention contenders Lara Gillespie, Darren Rafferty, Ben Healy and Sam Bennett still to come - Irish fans are hopeful this could be a big World Champs for us.
Not since Ryan Mullen's silver medal in the U23 TT a decade ago has Ireland won a medal at the UCI World Road Championships, yet now we have several contenders - and some juniors who also just might surprise.
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But, for now, its the turn of the paracyclists and - as is their way - there is already silverware in the bag, and perhaps more to come as soon as tomorrow. After his bronze medal-winning performance today at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Grimes explained just why he was so blown away with the result.
"I'm really emotional after that. I think it's probably the best result that I've done," he said. "I know last year I won the road race, but in an individual pursuit against the strongest C4 field that's ever been there - I wasn't expecting to get that medal.
"The French rider I was up against beat me in every time trial this year so I thought this wouldn't work. It wasn't a great ride or as fast as yesterday but there was a bit of 'grunt' there that got me through the line. I'm delighted."
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Grimes put in a brilliant ride, recording a time of 4:34.015, to comprehensively beat French rider Gatien Le Rousseau and seal a bronze medal; a great boost for the huge group of Irish riders and staff who will be doing their stuff at these Worlds.
Grimes was also in men's C4 omnium action as he picked up 22 points with a 10th place finish in the 200m time trial. He will also be back in action with the 1km time trial qualification on Friday.
In the 1km time trial final, Dunlevy and McCrystal set a strong time of 1:11:580 to finish in sixth place and build up some track time ahead of Friday's bronze medal ride. The pair qualified for the final earlier in the afternoon with a time of 1:11.183 ahead of the evening's final. They will be back in action in the individual pursuit bronze medal ride on Friday evening.
Strong performances, finals
Wednesday's Para-cycling Track World Championships individual pursuit saw other Irish riders put in strong performances. Richael Timothy (WC3) set a new personal best and national record to finish in 6th place. Chris Burns (MC2) also set a new PB finishing in 11th place and William Clifford (MC3) finished in 14th place.
Josephine Healion and Linda Kelly placed 7th in the pairing's first outing together on the track. The duo followed that up with a 10th place finish in 1km time trial qualification on Thursday. Men's tandem pairing Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin unfortunately suffered an unclipping at the start of their individual pursuit qualifying and were not allowed to restart. They switch focus to the 1km time trial.
In the Track World Championships, Kelly Murphy kicked off her campaign as she took on the women's individual pursuit qualifying. Her time of 3:29.967 saw her finish 11th in a strong field.
Callum Morris was in action in the Downhill World Championships in Fort-William. He finished 21st in the junior men's qualifying and will compete in the Friday's final. That was an encouraging result at his first World Championships event. Morris rides these Worlds after strong results at the UCI World Cup events this season - including a 15th place finish in Val di Sole in June.
