Five riders will represent Ireland in the Hong Kong round of the UCI Track Nations Cup this weekend from March 15th to 17th.

Following the Adelaide round last month, the team spent several weeks in a Down Under training camp in Brisbane as they gained crucial hours training together in preparation for Hong Kong.

An important event in Ireland’s bid for Olympic qualification in the Women’s Team Pursuit event, the team will aim for a strong showing in search of ranking points ahead of the end of qualifying next month.

In preparation, Ireland claimed six medals in a successful participation in the Australian National Championships earlier this month to underline what was a successful training camp.

The performance included an impressive time of 4:17.670 in the Team Pursuit – just under one second over the national record the same quartet set just over a year ago.

Lara Gillespie, Mia Griffin, Alice Sharpe and Kelly Murphy will form the Women’s Team Pursuit line-up on Friday while Erin Creighton will take to the line in the Women’s Elimination Race.

On Saturday, Mia Griffin and Alice Sharpe will look to continue their steady progress as a Women’s Madison partnership while Lara Gillespie will hope to continue her fine form in the Women’s Omnium event on the final day on Sunday.

Dan Henchy, National Track Coach, said:

"We're excited to get on the track in Hong Kong for the second round of the UCI Track Nations Cup. Since the first round in Adelaide, the team have been working hard in a Brisbane Training Camp in preparation for this week. It's been brilliant to have the team together for a consistent block of training and we’re very grateful for the help of the Queensland cycling community for making the trip such a success. Our main aim for the competition is to secure enough points with the Team Pursuit to confirm our Games qualification but we’re looking for strong performances in all events in line with our overall aim of fielding a genuinely competitive team at the Paris Olympics in the summer.”


Ireland Schedule (Irish Time)

Friday, March 15th

Lara Gillespie, Mia Griffin, Alice Sharpe, Kelly Murphy - Women's Team Pursuit Qualifying - 2am

Erin Creighton - Women's Elimination Race Qualifying – 6:31am

Women's Team Pursuit First Round* - 7:15am

Erin Creighton – Women's Elimination Race Final* - 12:50pm

Saturday, March 16th

Mia Griffin & Alice Sharpe – Women's Madison Qualifying – 4:55am

Mia Griffin & Alice Sharpe – Women's Madison Final* - 11am

Sunday, March 17th

Lara Gillespie – Women's Omnium Qualifying – 1:47am

Women's Omnium Scratch Race - 8am

Women’s Omnium Tempo Race – 8:40am

Women’s Omnium Elimination Race – 10:06am

Women’s Omnium Points Race - 11:05am

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