|
|
|
Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
More Medal Success for Clifford on Day Two in Switzerland
By Press Release
15 Jun 2015,
|
Email this article
|
Galway Rider Adds Road Race Bronze at Paracycling Road World Cup
Eoghan Clifford has added a third medal to Ireland's total on day two of the UCI Paracycling Road World Cup in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland.
Reigning world champion Clifford followed up his time trial victory yesterday with third place in the MC3 Road Race over four laps of a hilly, rain lashed 14.53km course.
Clifford sprinted for gold after 58.12km but gave best to Italian Fabio Anobile and Steffen Waria of Germany in the final dash to the line.
The Galway-native edged out Sergey Ustinov for the final medal as four riders came home clear of the chasers.
Meanwhile Mark Rohan finished a battling 26th in the road race, one place ahead of his time trial result in his first event racing in the much more competitive H3 category.
Team coach Neill Delahaye was able to reflect on another day of success for the Irish squad in the battle for ranking points for this year's world cup and Paralympic qualifying points for Rio 2016.
Neill Delahaye: "The racing today was epic by any standard. The good weather we have been experiencing turned dramatically and our races were run in very heavy rain.
"The race parcours here in Yverdon for this World Cup is also particularly challenging with two climbs in the 14km circuit. One is 4km long topping out with a 12% section and the other is 2km at a steady 7% average gradient.
"It's pretty much uphill or downhill which is providing some very selective racing. The guys had no choice but to work exceptionally hard in their races as a result.
"To secure another medal was a fantastic achievement by Eoghan. As reigning world champion he was very active throughout but heavily marked by the other four riders in the winning break.
"The finish would not be his preferred type of finale with a flat broad one kilometre run in to the line but nonetheless he challenged the established fast finishers in the winning move all the way to the chequered flag, delivering a very strong sprint at the end of a tough race."
Colin Lynch is the next rider in action for the Irish squad in the MC2 Road Race on Tuesday followed by the tandem pairing of Katie George Dunlevy and sighted pilot Fiona Guihen in the Women's B2 Road Race.
For full results from all races at round two of the UCI Paracycling Road Word Cup in Yverdon –les-Bains see http://www.uci.ch/para-cycling/ucievents/2015-para-cycling-uci-para-cycling-world-cup/374847015/widgets/start-lists-results-standings/
Day 1 – Sunday 14th June 2015 Results
8am-5pm Mark Rohan M H2 Time Trial 14.15km 27th
Colin Lynch M C2 Time Trial 14.15km 1st
Brown & McCrystal M B Time Trial 28.30km 12th
Dunlevy & Guihen W B Time Trial 28.30km 8th
Eoghan Clifford M C3 Time Trial 28.30km 1st
Day 2 –Monday 15th June 2015
9.02am Mark Rohan H3 Road Race 29.06km 26th
4pm Eoghan Clifford M C3 Road Race 58.12km 3rd
Day 3 – Tuesday 16th June 2015
8am Colin Lynch M C2 Road Race 43.59km
1.17pm Dunlevy & Guihen W B Road Race 72.65km
------------------------------------------
Gold Medal Success for Lynch and Clifford in Switzerland
June 14th
Time Trial Wins for Irish Duo at Paracycling Road World Cup
Colin Lynch and Eoghan Clifford have won time trial gold on another day of medal winning success for the Ireland squad at the UCI Paracycling Road World Cup in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland today.
Double world championship winner Lynch made it back-to-back successes in world cup time trials with victory in the MC2 time trial following his success at the first round of the series in Maniago, Italy last week.
In a dominant performance on a mainly flat 14.15km course that suited strong riders, Lynch had 63.72 seconds in hand over Arslan Gilmutdinov of Russia with Israel Hilario Rimas of Peru a further ten seconds in arrears.
The victory continues Lynch's unbeaten time trial start to the World Road Cup season and, as well as garnering more important Paralympic qualification points towards Rio de Janeiro next summer, continues his preparation for the world championships in Nottwil, Switzerland at the end of July.
Meanwhile, reigning world champion Clifford got his World Cup campaign off to the perfect start with a strong performance that resulted in a hard won victory in the MC3 time trial over 28.3km.
Clifford's first paracycling road outing of the year resulted in a 38.77 second win for the Galway-native over Japanese racer, Masaki Fujita and Belgium's Diederick Schelfhout.
James Brown and Bryan McCrystal were in action in the Men's B tandem, the pairing renewing their association with 12th fastest time over the two-lap, 28.3km distance.
Katie-George Dunlevy put the crash which blighted her road race in Italy last week behind her to finish 8th in the Women's B tandem time trial piloted on this occasion by Fiona Guihen.
Mark Rohan began the Irish campaign at Yverdon, finishing 27th in the time trial having been forced to start in the much more competitive H3 category.
Neill Delahaye: "Today was a great day for the team. We have put in the graft and the whole team has delivered their best on the day...to hear Amhrán na bhFiann twice in one day has been very special.
"Colin showed once again that he is world class against the clock. We were quietly confident the course could suit him and he showed his strength and really delivered it on the day with an exceptional time.
"Eoghan worked really hard for the win. He was down after the first lap but never deviated from the plan and dug very deep in the second half of the race, with a negative split, to turn it around.
"Every bike committed fully and we are looking forward to the road races over the next two days."
Mark Rohan is next up for the Irish squad with an early start in the H3 road race tomorrow while Clifford is back in action tomorrow afternoon in his bid for a second medal in the 58.12km MC3 road race.
For full results from all races at round two of the UCI Paracycling Road Word Cup in Yverdon –les-Bains see http://www.uci.ch/para-cycling/ucievents/2015-para-cycling-uci-para-cycling-world-cup/374847015/widgets/start-lists-results-standings/
Day 1 – Sunday 14th June 2015 Results
8am-5pm Mark Rohan M H2 Time Trial 14.15km 27th
- Colin Lynch M C2 Time Trial 14.15km 1st
- Brown & McCrystal M B Time Trial 28.30km 12th
- Dunlevy & Guihen W B Time Trial 28.30km 8th
- Eoghan Clifford M C3 Time Trial 28.30km 1st
Day 2 – Monday 15th June 2015
9.02am Mark Rohan H3 Road Race 29.06km
4pm Eoghan Clifford M C3 Time Trial 58.12km
Day 3 – Tuesday 16th June 2015
8am Colin Lynch M C2 Road Race 43.59km
1.17pm Dunlevy & Guihen W B Road Race 72.65km
----
Irish Team for 2015 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup Round Two
- Mark Rohan, MH2 Time Trial, MH1 Road Race, from Ballinahown, Co. Westmeath
- Colin Lynch, MC2 Time Trial, MC2 Road Race, from Cheshire in England
- James Brown & Bryan McCrystal, MB Time Trial, MB Road Race, Brown from Stonehouse in England, McCrystal from Dundalk, Co. Louth
- Katie-George Dunlevy & Fiona Guihen, WB Time Trial, WB Road Race, Dunlevy from Maidenhead in England, Guihen from Navan, Co. Meath
- Eoghan Clifford, MC3 Time Trial, MC3 Road Race, from Galway Bay CC, Co. Galway
Coach: Neill Delahaye
Manager: Tommy McGowan
Mechanic: Gerry Beggs
About Classification in Paralympic Sport:
Classification is a unique and integral part of Paralympic sport. It provides the structure to separate athletes with similar levels of impairments into groups, or classes as they are commonly known, so they can compete in fair and equal competitions against one another, and ensure that winning is determined by skill, fitness, power, endurance, tactical ability and mental focus. This same principle exists in non-Paralympic sports where athletes are classified according to age, gender or weight divisions to allow for as fair competition as possible.
In para-cycling there are fourteen classifications based on functional disability type. B refers to the tandems, where the stoker is blind or visually impaired, and the pilot is sighted. H represents the handcycling events, and C refers to cyclists on regular and also adapted, solo bikes, who may have cerebral palsy, limb impairments and amputations. In these events the categories have numbers denoting the level of impairment, the lower numbers the more severe the impairments and the higher less so.
------
For more information on Para-cycling visit:
http://www.uci.ch/para-cycling/about/
|
|
|
|
