The MTB World Championships came to a close on Sunday, with 11 riders having represented Ireland over three disciplines.
In the Downhill, Ronan Dunne took the Men’s Elite Bronze medal in a thrilling ride, finishing behind Canada’s Goldstone in 1st place. His qualifying ride awarded him P4, giving him a good platform for the final. Dunne’s podium is the first ever Downhill World Championship podium for an Irish rider, coming off the back of a World Cup win in Les Gets the previous week.
Oisín O’Callaghan and Henry Kerr qualified well, coming out 30th and 56th respectively. The Final saw them finishing close together, with O’Callaghan coming in 33rd, and Kerr finishing in 30th. Jacob Dickson missed out on qualification, coming 93rd after a crash interrupted his qualifying run.
The Junior Men’s category saw Alex Hickey and Darragh Ryan represent Ireland. Both riders battled tricky conditions in their qualifying runs, unfortunately missing out on a spot in the Finals.
Greg Callaghan and Kelan Grant were the Irish contingent in the Enduro event. Adverse weather brought the highest stage forward by a day, and this stage saw Callaghan coming sitting 20th, and Grant sitting in 22nd heading into the main day of racing. Day two was just as successful for Callaghan, who finished the event in 26th after six stages but a heavy crash resulted in a DNF and a broken vertebrae was an unfortunate end to the weekend for Grant.
The Cross-Country Olympic closed out the MTB World Championships, with three Irish riders competing. Chris Dawson battled tough conditions in the Men’s Elite, coming in a hard fought 66th after a P69 start. Greta Lawless competed in the Women’s Junior, advancing from P57 to finish in 37th in a brilliant race. The Men’s Junior category saw Ryan Daly competing, crossing the line in 82nd.
