The Irish elite women - and junior men - were in action on the boards in Switzerland at the weekend as the Irish road team were fighting it out on the road at the UCI World Championships in Zürich.
And as the Irish in Aigle raced in the build-up towards the World Track Championships in Denmark in just over two weeks, they took some very strong results, including several wins.
Mia Griffin and Lara Gillespie led the charge and they will be joined at the Worlds in Ballerup, Denmark, by junior rider Lucy Bénézet Minns. She who rode the road Worlds, placing 13th in the TT and 10th in the road race, after taking a European track title during the summer.
However, though Bénézet Minns was not in action at the 3 Jours d’Aigle over the weekend, Cycling Ireland did select juniors Philip O’Connor and Luca Holmes, who had already represented Ireland at the Europeans in Germany in July.
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"After a short break post-Olympics, it's exciting to see Lara and Mia return to the track and performing at such a high-level. A real confidence boost ahead of the track World Championships next month," said Cycling Ireland national track cycling coach, Dan Henchy.
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“Equally pleasing was the progress shown by Luca and Philip over the three days. They adapted very well to their first ride on a 200m velodrome, a great experience for two developing riders to hone their skills with the extra technical challenge of the short track."
On the opening day of competition in Aigle, Gillespie won the elite omnium after winning the scratch race, as well as taking 2nd in both the tempo and elimination races, followed by victory in the points race. O'Connor finished 11th in the points race while Holmes was 10th in the elimination race.
On the second day of racing, it was turn of Griffin to take her place on the top step of the podium; winning the scratch race while Gillespie was also a winner again, in the elimination race. Holmes and O'Connor were 9th in the scratch race and elimination race respectively and teamed up for finished the madison.
Gillespie and Griffin were then 1st and 3rd in the points race on the final day of racing. Gillespie took points in seven of the ten sprints, including winning the first three and last sprint. The duo then teamed up for the madison, finishing 2nd to Italy's Martina Alzini and Martina Fidanza by one point
O'Connor and Holmes also raced on the final day; Holmes 8th in the points race and O'Connor 8th in the scratch race.
