Dundrum cyclist blazes up the track

CYCLIST Ronan Grimes of the Dundrum-based Scott-Orwell Wheelers Club broke into the top ten in the 1km Time Trial at his first track world championship event in Brazil.

Ronan finished in ninth place, while Gold went to Jody Cundy of Great Britain ahead of Jozef Metelka (Slovakia) and USA’s Jacob Waters who took bronze in the Para-cycling Track World Championships.

“That was a great experience,” he explained after the 1km race, where his finishing time was 1.11.595.

“The time of 1.11 is something I would have grabbed at before the race, so I have to be happy with that, and it’s a top ten too. I have a lot of positives to take from it – and a lot to learn too. 

“I kind of pulled a bit too early at the gate so I lost a bit of momentum at the start of the race.

When it is just four laps it is over before you know it – so it was all a kind of blur until I heard that last bell.”

The 29-year-old Scott-Orwell Wheelers rider enjoyed his track cycling debut at a major championships.

“The track isn’t something I have a whole lot of experience in and the kilo is not something I have a speciality in,” he added.

“The nerves were setting in an hour or so beforehand. The hour went by very quickly, and I was up on the boards before I knew it.”

Early Saturday morning saw Ronan back on the track where he finished eighth in the Men’s C4 4km Individual Pursuit with 4.55.538.

After the race, Ronan spoke to Cycling Ireland and explained that he was happy with his result.

“The standard of riders in the top ten today was very high, with most having medalled at world championships before,” he said.

“Going into it I thought I might have gone a couple of seconds faster, but perhaps got my pacing slightly off.

“Still, the results from today’s pursuit and Thursday’s kilo have left me with some good benchmarks to work on.

Ronan was back in action on Sunday, March 25 as he competed in the MC4-5 Scratch Race.