Emily Kay gave a very good account of herself in the omnium at the European Championships today, taking 10th place and being in the medal hunt for a long time.
While the Irish rider gained a lap in the points race, the omnium's last event of four, seven other riders did the same, with a small number gaining more than one lap, thus sewing up the medals.
Kay had a busy time of it at the Europeans as she was part of the team pursuit line-up that took 6th in that event last week. She also rode the scratch last Friday, finishing 9th and being left with mixed feelings as she felt she could have done better.
Kay (26) started out very strongly today in the omnium as she placed 3d in the scratch race behind Poland’s Daria Pikulik and Italy’s Rachele Barbieri – the eventual bronze and gold medal winners.
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Kay then went into the tempo race in 3rd overall and took 7th in that race. She was one of seven riders to score sprint points. France’s Clara Copponi gained a lap to win the tempo race while Poland’s Pikulik was again in good form, gaining a lap and taking 2nd place.
After the tempo race, Kay was 4th overall with 64 points as they headed into the elimination race. The Irish rider lived dangerously at times during that event but managed to escape elimination at the back several times before finishing in 9th.
Going into the final event of the omnium – the all-important points race – Kay was 6th overall. With the points race often bringing out big changes in the standings, Kay went into it with her chances of a medal intact.
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In the 20km race, Italy’s Barbieri put in a great performance. She was the only rider to gain three laps and so emerged with a points tally of 68 from the race, taking the gold medal with a final overall tally of 174 points.
France’s Copponi took two laps in the points race but still saw the gold slip away - late in the race when Barbieri proved so strong. Copponi had to be content with silver, just three points down on the winner. Poland’s Pikulik, one of six riders to gain two laps in the points race, took bronze with a final tally of 167 points.
Kay, who took a lap and five sprint points during the points race, ended the omnium with 113 points in 10th place.
She said it was a tough day out, though she was content with her result in a world class field, in which she proved very competitive. She added when the points race was stopped for a prolonged period, after the track was damaged in a crash, that played into her hands somewhat.
“I think the break helped me really, I took the lap which was pretty tough and then I was struggling a bit so the break just allowed me kind of reset and then I scored in the next two sprints, so I put myself in the bike race off the back of that so I’m happy,” she said.
Kay added she was pleased to see the women’s pursuit group back up to give riders – with the return of Lara Gillespie – which offers some flexibility if some of the riders want to also focus on other events.
“I stepped out of the team pursuit to ride the scratch race but it’s great now that we have got five girls to be able to do that and to be able to share events," she said. "The scratch race was good learning for the Omnium and I’m happy with 9th in the Olympic event.”
