Ireland's junior team pursuiters break national record at World Champs

The Irish junior team pursuits have lowered the national record at the Worlds, with the Irish elite record now a real prospect if they stick together for the remainder of this year and into next season

The Irish junior team pursuit squad has broken the national record on the first day of competition at the UCI Junior World Track Championships in the Netherlands.

The four riders - George Sevastopulo, Max Fitzgerald, Luca Holmes and Philip O'Connor - unfortunately did not advance to the next round. But they demonstrated their progress in the discipline by significantly lowering the Irish record, subject to confirmation by Cycling Ireland.

In qualifying in Apeldoorn the Italians led the way with a time of 3mins 56.928secs for the 4km distance. For context, that was more than five seconds slower than the 3:51.199 junior world record set, by Italy, at the Worlds in China last year and compares to the Irish elite men's record of 4:11.539 set a decade ago.

Indeed, the Irish juniors - a new unit for the team pursuit event - are now relatively close to that Irish elite record - set by Mark Downey, Felix English, Martyn Irvine and Fintan Ryan - especially considering how much faster they are now compared to their Europeans ride last month.

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At the Europeans in Portugal, the Irish juniors set a new Irish record in a time of 4:17.598. But they went almost one second faster yesterday in qualifying at the Worlds, with a time of 4:16.664, now just over five seconds off the Irish elite record.

The Irish were 12th yesterday, in a qualifying field of 16 nations. And with only the best eight nations advancing in the competition, Ireland's ride in qualifying brought their team pursuit efforts to a close at these Worlds.

However, the four riders, and Elliott McKeegan, will now focus on the remaining events at the Worlds over the coming days.

Team Pursuit | World Champs Qualifying

  1. Italy – 3:56.928
  2. Great Britain – 3:57.778
  3. United States – 4:02.110
  4. Germany – 4:02.421
  5. Denmark – 4:03.189
  6. Switzerland – 4:03.245
  7. Australia – 4:03.780
  8. Spain – 4:05.198
  9. Japan – 4:09.289
  10. Canada – 4:13.678
  11. Chile – 4:14.398
  12. Ireland – 4:16.664
  13. Slovenia – 4:20.741
  14. Ukraine – 4:22.824
  15. Hong Kong, China – 4:23.328
  16. South Africa – 4:23.743

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