Lara Gillespie of Team Ireland show no signs of her crash on the madison when she took on the four-race omnium at the UCI World Track Championships in Glashow this evening. The 22-year-old Wicklow woman raced to a top 10, Ireland's best ever finish at an omnium in an elite Worlds.
And while that is perhaps not a stand-out placing in the context of her palmares - which includes three European titles - she was in against the big beasts of the sport, some of whom are among the most decorated riders in the history of track cycling.
While her crash in the madison - which she rode with Alice Sharpe - on Monday was a concern, the Irish duo remounted and finished 12th and Gillespie looked like she was in good form today. She placed 14th in the scratch race - when the first of the four events finished in a bunch sprint - won by Ally Wollaston (New Zealand) from Olympic champion Jennifer Valente (USA) and Letizia Paternoster, the Italian who won the elimination world title in 2021.
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In the tempo race, Gillespie won the final sprint, ensuring she finished 7th - moving up to 8th overall. That race was won by Valente from former European elimination race champion, Valentine Fortin (France), and Kiwi Wollaston.
In the elimination race, Gillespie placed 9th - of the 24-strong field - meaning she was 10th after three events, with the final points race to come. The elimination race was won by Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) from Valente and Fortin.
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In the points race, while Gillespie was not among a number of groups to gain a lap - and 20 points for doing so - she was competitive in the attacks and also got up to take four points in the sprints, to ensure she finished 9th in the event. The points race was won by Katie Archibald (Great Britain), a five-time world champion, from Kopecky and Amalie Dideriksen, the former world road race champion from Denmark.
That gave the Irishwoman a final overall finish of 9th overall. The title was won by Valente, now the most decorated US cyclist in history, from Dideriksen and Kopecky.
Paracycling World Road Championships
The first events of Para-Cycling Road World Championships kicked off today with hand cyclists Delcan Slevin and Allister MacSorley in Dumfries.
Slevin was first to take on the 16.9km course in the MH3 category, completing his TT in 28:43.12, some two and a half minutes down on gold medal winner, Mark Mekenkamp (Netherlands); a 23rd place finish for the Irish rider.
Making his debut in a road Worlds, Allister MacSorley crashed during his race but recovered well and finished in 20th place MacSorley and Slevin will be back in action on Friday competing in the road races.
Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal will not compete in tomorrow’s women’s tandem time trial. Healion has been ruled out on medical grounds but is hoping to be ready to compete in this weekend’s road race.
