Eight athletes are in action for Ireland at the UEC Track Championships in Konya, Turkey, this week with several of the team having produced strong performances over the opening weekend of racing.
The morning’s racing saw Matti Dobbins 7th in the Men’s Elimination Qualifying Round, securing a spot in the evening’s final. The Elimination race sees riders compete in a sprint every two laps where the last rider of the bunch to cross the line, determined by the position of their rear wheel, will be eliminated. The race continues until there are 2 riders remaining on the track.
Dobbins finished 13th in the final, with Denmark’s Tobias Aagaard Hansen taking the European title for 2026.
Erin Creighton, Aoife O’Brien, Esther Wong, and Fiona Mangan were in action on day one of racing in the Women’s Team Pursuit. The team finished 7th in the qualifying rounds, progressing to the first round the following day.
Emma Jeffers was the final Irish athlete to take to the boards on the opening day of racing, finishing in 10th position in the Women’s Scratch race. The Scratch race sees riders all start at the same time, with the first lap neutralized. The aim is simply to be the first to cross the line after a distance of 10km for Men and Women. Unlike in the Points race, there are no intermediate sprints; only the finish order counts.
Max Fitzgerald was in action in the Men’s Kilo TT Qualifier. Fitzgerald averaged a speed of 58.249 km/h to set a new national record of 1:01.804 to get the day’s action underway for the Irish.
The Women’s Team Pursuit saw Emma Jeffers swapped in for Aoife O’Brien to allow her focus on the Women’s Elimination race that evening. The Team Pursuit took almost 1.5 seconds off their Qualifying time and finished 7th overall. Great Britain took the Gold medal in a time of 4:02.808.
Matti Dobbins was back in action in the Men’s Points Race. The Points race is approximately 40km for men, and riders can gain points during sprints (one sprint every 10 laps) and by lapping the rest of the field (+20 points). The final result is calculated according to the number of points won. Points awarded in the last sprint after the full distance are doubled (10 points, 6 points, 4 points, 2 points). Dobbins finished in 10th place with 55 points, with Germany’s Tim Torn Teutenberg securing the European title with 105 points.
Aoife O’Brien was 11th in the Women’s Elimination, with Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky crowned the new European champion.
Max Fitzgerald has progressed to the evening’s final in the Men’s Scratch Race, while Aoife O’Brien is in the Women’s Omnium on throughout the day. Esther Wong, Luzy Benezet Minns, Emma Jeffers and Matti Dobbin are all in action on the 4th, while Erin Creighton and Aoife O’Brien will round out the week’s racing with the Women’s Madison on Thursday 5th.
