Cerebral Palsy Sport Ireland

 Hot on the heels of their medal winning and record setting performances at last weeks Paralympic Track World Cup in Manchester the Irish Paralympic Cycling Squad were back to their winning ways finishing in first place in three of the four categories they competed in and second in the fourth category at the International Grand Prix of Wales in Newport yesterday.

The event was run as a Track Omnium with points up for grab in the 200m sprint, the 500m/1km Time Trial and the 3km/4km Individual Pursuit. 

Cathal Miller was in flying form in the LC1 Male competition with three straight wins guaranteeing him his first big win of 2009. His time in the 4km Pursuit was 4:55.014 just 2 seconds off his record set in Beijing so we can look forward to that record falling further in the near future.

Female Tandem pairing of Catherine Walsh and Caroline Ryan set their second Irish Record of the week this time in the 1km Time Trial which they won in a time of 1:12.980 almost a full second better that the time recorded by Catherine in Beijing.  A further win in the 3km Pursuit set them up nicely for to regain the title won by Catherine and Joanna Hickey in 2008.

Not to be left out Enda Smyth competing in the CP4 Category set a new Irish Record of 1:15.025 in the 1km Time Trial and also set a new Irish Standard time of 5:24.051 when winning the 4km Pursuit.  The UCI has decided 4km will be the Pursuit distance for CP4 riders in the future up from the 3km distance  used in previous competitions.    

Female LC1 rider Ann McFarland riding in just her second Paralympic competition put in three good rides to finish in second place behind the USA rider.

Only the USA Team who won four events out scored the Team from Ireland at this the fourth running of the event in Newport. 

The squad now aim to build on these performances in preparation for the World Road Championships in Italy in September and the World Track Championships in Manchester next November.

Info Source:  Cycling Ireland