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A team of 11 Irish riders made the trip to Belgium for the Belgian Track International over Easter Weekend. A mix of male and female riders spread across Elite and Junior categories contained experienced athletes and determined youth.

Youngster Elliott McKeegan and George Sevastopulo made an early impact, taking second and fourth in a field of 18 riders in the Points race qualifier for the Men’s Junior Omnium. Max Fitzgerald and Philip O’Connor got their weekend underway in the second heat of the same competition, finishing 12th and 16th respectively.

O’Connor found himself battling for a podium in the Junior Men’s Points Race, but just missed out, finishing fourth behind a strong top three.

Three junior riders got themselves well involved in the Junior Men’s Scratch race. George Sevastopulo was the top Irish rider, finishing eighth. He was joined by Max Fitzgerald in 10th and Elliott McKeegan in 19th.

Mia Griffin was another rider battling for a podium on the first day, however the Irish representative was just pipped in the Elite Women’s Points race as she took fourth. Erin Creighton, the only other Irish rider in the race event took 23rd.

Mya Doocey and Rhiannon Dolan got the team events underway as they rode together in the Junior Women’s Madison, finishing 9th overall.

The Tempo race in the Junior Men’s Omnium event saw more strong performances from riders in green, as Max Fitzgerald took 10th, followed closely by George Sevastopulo in 11th, with Elliott McKeegan following in 19th.

The trio followed this up with the Elimination race, where Sevastopulo was highest placed Irish rider in 15th, followed by Fitzgerald in 17th and McKeegan in 19th.

McKeegan unfortunately did not start the Points race in the Omnium, but teammate Sevastopulo took ninth, ahead of Fitzgerald in 17th.

The Elite Women’s Elimination race saw Emma Jeffers finish 21st in a strong field, that started with 40 riders. Erin Creighton was one of the riders who missed out on the finals, narrowly missing the cut off in the qualifying round.

Oisin Ferrity and Stefan Caulfield-Dreier missed out on a place in the final of the U23 Points race, finishing 17th and 19th respectively in their qualifying round.

The Junior Women’s Omnium opened with a Scratch event, and saw Rhiannon Dolan take 14th, with Mya Doocey following in 21st. Doocey came into her own in the Tempo race in the Omnium, taking eighth, with Dolan also improving on her earlier result, finishing 11th. The pair were on track again for the Omnium’s Elimination, where Dolan took ninth, ahead of Doocey in 19th. Dolan ended the day with a top 10 in the overall Omnium standings, while Doocey took 19th.

Philip O’Connor and Max Fitzgerald were the Irish representatives in the Junior Men’s Madison, and came across the line in ninth.

Mia Griffin was amongst the action for the Scratch event in the Elite Women’s Omnium, and took seventh. Griffin remained in the top 10 in the Tempo event, taking eighth. The Elimination race saw Griffin finish 21st in a race that saw several favourites caught out early. Her performance across the day saw Griffin finish out the day in sixth overall.

Another large field in the Men’s Elite Elimination event saw Irish riders miss out, as Oisin Ferrity and Stefan Caulfield-Dreier finished 14th and 17th in their respective qualifiers.

Griffin was on track again for the Women’s Elite Scratch on the final day of racing, taking fifth in the final.

Oisin Ferrity was hoping to follow Griffin’s lead in the Elite Men’s Scratch, but fell victim to a crash that left six riders with a DNF.

The Elite Women’s Madison saw Griffin and Creighton join forces once again. The pair put in another strong performance but narrowly missed out on a podium place, finishing fourth.

Stefan Caulfield-Dreier found himself paired with Dutch rider Sten Verzijl for the Elite Men’s Madison, but the pair could only muster an 11th place finish.