Caroline Ryan was the first Irish woman to win a medal at the UCI Track World Cup when she took bronze in the 3km individual pursuit on the velodrome in Aguascalientes, Mexico at the weekend.
Having already qualified for the points race in the upcoming world track championships on Friday night – when she finished 13th in the 20-lap event – Ryan recorded the fourth fastest time in the pursuit the next day to set herself up nicely for a bronze medal ‘ride- off’ against talented Ukrainian Anna Solovey.
Ryan is a member of the Garda cycling team and a former international rower.
Her bronze medla brings the Irish total of track cycling medals to an impressive 15 in European and world events over the past two years.
RESULTS:
Women’s Individual Pursuit Finals:
Gold Medal
1. Rebecca Wiasak (AUS) 3.28.884
Silver Medal
2. Elinor Baker (GBR) 3.31.070
Bronze Medal
3. Caroline Ryan (IRL) 3.34.257
4. Anna Solovey (UKR) 3.34.520
Eoin Mullen was the only other Irish competitor and the Aran Islander continued his impressive upward curve by finishing in 13th place in the men’s keirin, which was won by Great Britain’s Matthew Crampton.
Scratch race world champion Martyn Irvine missed the event due to injury sustained in a crash at the recent Gent 6-Day
Both Irvine and Ryan have now secured places in two events at the world championships, due to be held in Colombia at the end of February.
Ireland has a strong tradition in High Performance cycling across all disciplines, with significant success in Track Cycling and Road Cycling over recent years.
High Performance Unit
Performance Director: Geoff Liffey (CEO)
Head Coach: Brian Nugent
Logistics Officer: Susan O’Mara
Development Coach: Neill Delahaye
