Eight Irish athletes were racing in Konya, Türkiye for the first major international cycling championships of 2026 – the UEC Track Championships. With racing taking place across five days, it was a busy programme for all involved.
This was one of the biggest Irish teams at an Elite Track Championships in recent years, showing the continued growth and development in the discipline. Highlights from the week included multiple top ten finishes and new national record.
Racing began on Sunday, 1st of February. Matti Dobbins was the first Irish athlete to take to the track in the first of two qualifiers for the Men’s Elimination race. A 7th place finish in his qualifying round saw Dobbins progress to the final later on Monday, where he finished 13th.
The Women’s Team Pursuit team of Erin Creighton, Aoife O’Brien, Esther Wong and Fiona Mangan were next to take to the track. They finished 7th in the Women’s Team Pursuit qualifying, progressing to the first round on Monday.
Concluding the opening day for the Irish squad was Emma Jeffers, who finished tenth in the Women’s Scratch Race.
Maximillian Fitzgerald was first up on Day Two of the Championships. Racing in the Men’s Time Trial, Fitzgerald may not have progressed to the final, but he did set a new National Record.
Reflecting on setting a new National Record, Fitzgerald said, “I’m really happy to have set a new Irish record, after coming close last year it was really nice to break the record by a decent margin this year. A big thanks is due to Cycling Ireland for their continued support, going forward I definitely want to continue to bring down the record time, as I think it’s very achievable.”
Emma Jeffers, Fiona Mangan, Erin Creighton and Esther Wong were next up, racing in the first round of the Women’s Team Pursuit, where they finished 7th overall.
Dobbins continued on from his strong start on the opening day, he finished 10th Men’s Points Race.
Having raced in the qualifying round of the Women’s Team Pursuit, Aoife O’Brien finished 11th in the Women’s Elimination Race.
Once again Fitzgerald was the first up on the third day of racing in Konya. An excellent ride in the Heat 1 for the Men’s Scratch saw him finish fifth, progressing to the final. Unfortunately, things did not go his way in the final and he did not finish the race.
Aoife O’Brien raced in the Women’s Omnium. Some consistent performances across the four races saw her finish 14th overall. Her standout race in the Omnium was the Tempo where she was 11th.
Matti Dobbins was first up on Day 4, Wednesday, in the qualifying round for the Men’s Omnium, where he finished a very competitive fifth place, progressing to the Omnium.
Dobbins finished 11th overall in the Omnium, with an excellent eighth place in the Tempo race helping him move up the leaderboard.
The National Record was broken not once, but twice in the Women’s Time Trial qualifying. Erin Creighton broke the record she previously held and then it was broken again by Emma Jeffers.
Racing in the Women’s Individual Pursuit, Lucy Benezet Minns finished 13th. Esther Wong was in action in the Women’s Points Race but unfortunately abandoned the race.
On the final day of competition, Erin Creighton and Emma Jeffers teamed up for the Women’s Madison, where they finished 12th in a strong field.
