Report from Portugal courtesy of Cycling Ireland, photos CI, and the social media pages of Mia, Lara, JB, Megan and Stefan…
After completing a recent training camp in Majorca, Lara Gillespie, Mia Griffin and JB Murphy competed in the national team colours at the Trofeu Internacional De Pista in Anadia, Portugal with the José Bento Pessoa on Saturday, December 17th, and the Alves Barbosa on Sunday, December 18th. Both events carried Class 2 ranking points and culminated with Griffin and Gillespie taking home a dominant gold in the women’s madison on Sunday.
The women’s omnium events saw Gillespie bounce back from a Saturday crash to come out on top in Sunday’s race, with Griffin taking sixth and fifth place finishes on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
In his first track outing in five months after an injury layoff, Murphy put in a strong performance to take the silver medal in the men’s Omnium on Sunday after an 8th place finish on Saturday.
Three other Irish riders also competed in the men’s events in Anadia, with Stefan Caulfield Dreier (Spellman Dublin Port) photo above, finishing 16th & 19th, Chris Donald (Spellman Dublin Port) 21st & 25th and Ryan Byrne (Spin The Bean) 25th & 25th in the men’s Omnium races. Caulfield Dreier and Donald also teamed up for the Madison races with 7th and 9th place finishes.
Megan told her social media pages: “I’m really happy to announce that I’ll be joining Arkea Pro Cycling Team for the upcoming season. I’m super grateful for this opportunity and for their belief in me. I’m vvv excited for this next chapter, it’s gonna be a good one!
