Golden Girls: The Irish women - Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal - leave South Africa two world titles richer having taken road race and TT gold at the World Paracycling Championships.
Katie George Dunlevy, Eve McCrystal win Worlds
After their world title-winning ride in the TT last Friday, Katie George Dunlevy and pilot Eve McCrystal have taken road race gold at the World Paracycling Championships.
They claimed victory in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in the WB Tandem category. The race yesterday came down to a bunch sprint.
The Irish pair, and their rivals, were forced to review their strategy when the race was cut from 14 laps to 12.
All of the riders were informed of the change by an official on a race moto six laps in.
But the Irish kept their minds on the prize and in the sprint to the line they saw off Poland and Greece to claim their second world title in three days.
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“The hill on the lap made it tough and challenging, this lent itself to slightly negative racing, but that worked for us,” said Dunlevy.
“The finish suited us perfectly. There was a tight left turn 700m from the line, and the Polish bike flew around the corner first.
“The gap was big enough, but we were confident and just drove it and passed them.”
Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal with their TT gold medals and world champions' jerseys on Friday.
McCrystal said while the sudden reduction in distance changed the dynamic of the race, they remained calm.
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But Dunlevy was anything but calm at the finish. She was delighted with her fantastic season, during which she has had McCrystal and Katharine Smyth as her sighted pilot on the tandem at different times.
“This is a massive thing. It’s everything I’ve worked for since Rio,” she said in reference to the Paralympics where she won TT gold and road race silver, again with McCrystal as pilot.
“It’s also four years of hard work. And we have come so close to a win in the road race before,” Dunlevy added.
“Road racing is my favourite part – I get such a buzz from it. We worked incredibly hard for this gold medal.”
Katie George Dunlevy has a condition known as retinitis pigmentosa. It’s extremely rare and gets worse as time passes.
She was told by doctors she’d be fully blind by 30 years, something she’s often struggled to grasp. She had perfect vision until the age of 11 years.
And to add to the challenge of competing with such a condition, she has had injury worries of late.
“I’ve been dealing with an injury since April, so at times this year it has been touch and go,” she said, adding the support of Cycling Ireland and Sport Ireland had been crucial.
“But it has been a tough year; every hard session has caused me immense pain. I’m going to take a bit of a break and recover completely.
“I’m going to enjoy this for now. We can’t quite believe it, and it will really start to sink in over the next few days.
“We are tired now. Apart from the racing; mentally preparing for the Worlds takes a lot out of you – but it’s great. It’s just brilliant.”
For Eve McCrystal, there is no rest on the horizon just yet. She faces international competition again this week when she lines out in Rás na mBan. A stage win is her objective, recovery allowing.
Also in action yesterday in South Africa at the Worlds was the rest of the Irish time.
Newcomer Ronan Grimes enjoyed a strong race in his MC4 category. He finished in 8th place, 32 seconds off the winner; a good ride for his Worlds debut. Andrew Nicholson finished 12th in the same race.
Colin Lynch was 11th in the MC2 road race. Peter Ryan and pilot Sean Hahessy as well as Damien Vereker piloted by Dermot Radford were forced out of their race with mechanicals.
In the handcycling team relay, the Irish team - Ciara Staunton, Declan Slevin and Seamus Wall - finished in 9th place.
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