7th for Dunlevy and Guihen at Para-Cycling World Championships, Mechanical for Walsh and Meehan

In what were two tough events, the Irish Tandems suffered mixed fortunes in the Time Trial at the 2013 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Baie-Comeau, Canada. Fresh from a Bronze medal at the recent World Cup, Katie-George Dunlevy and Fiona Guihen were the top Irish finishers in the Women's B Tandem, finishing in 7th place. Paralympic Bronze Medallists Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan suffered a mechanical to finish 9th in the same event. In the Men's B Tandems, the new partnership of James Brown and Mark Bleakley rode a solid race to finish in 13th place.

Walsh and Meehan have had a mixed season since the experienced pair won two medals at last year's Paralympic Games. However, luck was not on their side in the Women's B Tandem today, when they suffered a mechanical in the last 600m of the Time Trial, forcing them to stop completely.

Paracycling Coach Neill Delahaye said "Catherine and Fran were extremely unlucky today. They got the mechanical at a crucial point, 600 metres from the finish, just before the final climb. They had to dismount, losing them critical time.

In the same event Paralympian Dunlevy, has been performing strongly this year, winning two Bronze medals in World Cups this year. Pilot Guihen partnered her in last week's World Cup, where they medalled in their first competition together.

Delahaye said "Katie-George and Fiona had a solid ride today, considering they are a new pairing. They show a lot of potential, but were just off the pace today.

Brown, also a Paralympic Bronze medallist in the Time Trial, competed with new partner Mark Bleakley this evening. They came 13th in their event, but their main focus will be on the Road Race this Sunday, where they will hope to emulate the strong ride they produced at the World Cup in Matane last weekend.

Delahaye was pleased with their ride and said "James and Mark gave full effort out there today. They couldn't give any more. There was a lot of experience out there, but you can't fault them on effort. This is not their strongest discipline, they will look to recover from this to have a repeat performance of the stormer they had in the World Cup. Peter (Ryan) and Damien (Shaw) will also be in action in this event on Sunday. Having two bikes will hopefully play into our hands in terms of a tactical point of view."

Tomorrow's MH1 Road Race will see handcyclist Mark Rohan defending his World Title. Rohan won a silver medal in the Time Trial on Thursday, is the reigning World and Paralympic Champion in the Road Race, and has dominated the top of the podium in this event since the World Championships in Baei-Comeau in 2010.