Wicklow cyclists are national Team Pursuit champs
THE Sports Room Racing Team took on the title of elite national team champions as they won the team pursuit track cycling event at Sundrive Velodrome in Dublin.
The victory was all the more remarkable given that two of the five team members were first-year juniors competing at senior level for the first time.
Team Pursuit is a 4km timed event where there are four riders who work together to complete the distance in the fastest time possible.
The Sports Room Racing Team from Wicklow town, consisting of Cian Keogh, David O’Sullivan, Mark Smith and
Sean Murnane, had a winning time of four minutes 43 seconds – only five seconds off the all-time record.
Cian Keogh, who has been working in The Sports Room for the last two years, couldn’t contain his joy.
‘I am delighted. We didn’t have the highest expectations coming in to this race. It just went perfectly on the day and everything we had practiced came together nicely thanks to former national coach Frank O’ Leary. We will certainly look to come back stronger next year and attempt the record,’ said Cian.
‘We are looking into doing a few UCI races abroad over winter to show off the national champs kit and gain some more experience. It’ll be self-funded so hopefully we can get some people behind us to help’.
Coach Frank O’Leary also spoke of how proud he felt over the team’s achievements.
In July this year, Cian took victory in the main event at the Brendan Campbell Memorial with Mark Smith finishing strongly in third and Sean second. David O’Sullivan also had a brilliant sprint victory in the Shannonside GP earlier in July.
Frank said: ‘When Cian and myself set up the team at the end of last year, we listed the national team pursuit championships as major goal for the season. We started track training in February and with a lot of hard work since then, this has resulted in the gold medal. Considering Mark and David are first year juniors and Sean and Cian are in their first year as seniors, it’s a phenomenal ride.’