Double Silver for tandem duo Katie-George and Eve


Ireland’s para-cycling squad competed for the first time since 2020 last weekend at the UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships. After nearly 16 months off from competitive racing, Team Ireland showed their strength claiming 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medals. All eyes are now set on Tokyo with the Paralympic Games just around the corner. 


Tandem duo Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal claimed Ireland’s first medal of the competition taking Silver in the 33.6 km time trial, missing out on the gold behind the Great Britain pair Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall. 


They continued their rich form on Saturday in the Road Race, again finishing in second place after a sprint for the finish line. Sophie Unwin and Jenny Hall of Great Britain took Gold. 


There was more success for Team Ireland with the men’s H5 category. Gary O’Reilly secured a Bronze medal after a strong performance in the Time Trial completing the 25.2km trial in 37:56.74. This is Gary’s first World Championship medal. Speaking after the event O’Reilly said;

“I feel great, I wasn’t expecting to get a medal. It’s been a long time since we’ve been racing and it’s just a lot of hard work coming together. Thrilled to get a medal.”


It was a great weekend racing for Ronan Grimes. He claimed his first Para Road World Championship medal in the Road Race on Saturday.  Ronan bounced back strong, regaining his composure, after being involved in a crash during the race to finish in 3rd position. Grimes was thrilled with this well-deserved Bronze medal. This was all the sweeter for the Galway rider after narrowly missing out on a podium finish in the time trial on Thursday. Speaking after the race Grimes said;

“It was a though race and a hard earned place”.


There was a great display from all of the Team Ireland riders throughout the weekend with many great results for our first competition back. Other results from our riders are as follows:


Time Trial Results:

C3 - Richael Timothy - 5th 

B - Damien Vereker and Marcin Mizgajski - 9th 

H3 - Declan Slevin - 11th 

C2 - Chris Burns - 14th  


Road Race Results:

H5 - Gary O’Reilly - 4th 

C3 - Richael Timothy - 4th 

B - Damien Vereker and Marcin Mizgajski - 11th 

H3 - Declan Slevin - 13th

C2 - Chris Burns - 19th