Ireland’s Eoghan Clifford has finished fifth in the MC1-2-3 Scratch Race at the UCI 2016 Paracycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy.
The defending world champion was racing in the final of the event alongside team-mate Colin Lynch, who finished 13th.
For Clifford, it was disappointing end to a championship that saw him win bronze in the MC3 3km Pursuit.
The event was won by Aleksey Obydennov (RUS), with Fabio Anobile (ITA) and Esneider Munoz Marin (COL) taking silver and bronze.
Also in action today were the male tandem pairing of Peter Ryan and Sean Hahessy and the female tandem of Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal, the latter breaking the national record in the qualifying 200m with a time of 12.259. This netted a 6th place finish for the women, with Ryan and Hahessy finishing in 17th overall.
Speaking afterwards,Clifford said: “It was tough. I tried to make it tough, so I’m disappointed. Fifth was not what I came here for.
"I wanted the gold medal, and at least a medal. I may not have had my best legs, but I had the legs to win it. I had a few attacks off the front of the race, and when the Aussie guy (David Nicholas) went for a lap. I did a good bit of work to chase it down, stringing out the bunch behind me. The guys said that I was pretty heavily marked though too.”
