Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal take first world title

Duo win WB Tandem Time Trial at UCI 2017 Para-cycling Road World Championships

Nicolas Roche fought back from a puncture to finish 10th on stage 13 of the Vuelta. Photograph: Peter Foley/EPA
Nicolas Roche fought back from a puncture to finish 10th on stage 13 of the Vuelta. Photograph: Peter Foley/EPA

Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal took a superb victory in the WB Tandem Time Trial at the UCI 2017 Para-cycling Road World Championships in Pietermartizburg, South Africa on Friday, racing in six seconds ahead of Great Britain's Lora Fachie and Corrie Hall.

The duo took gold in the time trial at last year’s Rio Paralympics and were also silver medallists in the road race there. Their latest success is their first world title.

"It was really, really tight; a fight to the line," said Dunlevy. "The course was quite up and down, so it wasn't one that really suited us, but in that fourth lap our strength and endurance really paid off. It was our endurance that brought us to the line." Earlier, Colin Lynch was fifth in the MC2 Time Trial.

Meanwhile Nicolas Roche fought back from a puncture to finish a fine tenth on stage 13 of the Vuelta a España. He remains 11th overall, four minutes and 25 seconds behind the race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky).

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"We changed [THE WHEEL]pretty quickly. The team was quick to react, Damiano [CARUSO]and Rohan Dennis were there straight away. Rohan brought me back to the bunch and then Damiano took me straight to the front. Then it was a much more explosive finish than what I thought."

Shane Stokes

Shane Stokes

Shane Stokes is a contributor to The Irish Times writing about cycling