Orla Walsh and Harvey Barnes clean up at National Track Champs

Orla Walsh on her way to the keirin title at the National Track Championships; the No Pinz rider winning three titles, with the same three riders winning the medals in all three events (Photo: Bryan Keane - Inpho)

Having already won the gold medals in the men’s and women’s
sprint events at the National Track Championships in Dublin on Saturday, Harvey
Barnes and Orla Walsh went back looking for more today.

And those efforts were rewarded; Barnes claiming the kilo
gold and Walsh taking both the 500m TT and the keirin.

In the women’s sprint events this weekend, one usual
feature was the fact the same three women won the medals in each race.

In the women’s keirin and 500m TT today, gold went to Walsh (Nopinz Motip RT) in both events while
silver in both went to Nikki Taggart (UCD Cycling Club) and bronze in both
events was won by Deirbhle Ivory (UCD Cycling Club).

And in the sprint event yesterday, while the order of the top three was slightly different the same personnel were to the fore; Walsh winning gold from Ivory and Taggart.

*Tony Mairs took yet another national title today. This time the East Tyrone CC rider was best in the keirin event, taking gold (Photo: Bryan Keane - Inpho)*

In the 500m TT today, Walsh clocked a time of 36.42 for
gold, with Taggart and Ivory both 38.42,
but being separated by thousandths of a second.

In the keirin title race, Walsh and Taggart had won the two heats and in the final they were the strongest; the two-up fight for gold won by Walsh from Taggart, with Ivory taking the bronze.

Related News

Lara Gillespie attacks Dolomite stage as Giro hits high mountains

Video - Italy's hero Balsamo mobbed mid-stage during Giro TT

The men’s events saw a wider pool of riders sharing the
medals, but it was Harvey Barnes (Spellman Dublin Port) who left the Sundrive
Road track with the biggest smile on his face.

This weekend Conor Rowley, a very successful sprinter who grew up in Australia, came to Ireland for the championships having recently switched his allegiance to Ireland. And Barnes faced tough opposition from the new arrival.

*Harvey Barnes had a great weekend; the Spellman Dublin Port rider winning both the sprint and kilo titles in Dublin (Photo: Bryan Keane - Inpho)*

Barnes and Rowley, the two fancied riders in the sprint
event on Saturday, met each other in the final, with Barnes getting the upper
hand.

In the kilo today, the same two riders went in as
favourites and it was Barnes with won again from Rowley (Blackburn CC), with Michael
O’Loughlin (EvoPro Racing) adding the bronze medal to the gold he won in the
pursuit yesterday.

Barnes clocked a time of 1.06.56 in the kilo, which was
significantly faster than the others; Rowley doing 1.09.65 and O’Loughlin 1.11.08.

In the men’s keirin, it was the turn of another of
Ireland’s sprinting heavyweights, Tony Mairs, to add another title to the six
he had already won down the years.

Mairs (East Tyrone
CC) put in a big move coming into
the final lap and pulled out a
gap that the others simply couldn’t close, leaving him to power over the finish
line for gold.

Michael Mulcahy
and Billy Crosbie, both of the Sundrive Track Team, came through for silver and
bronze behind Mairs.