Fifth in World for Caroline Ryan in World Track Cycling Championships in Minsk

Ireland's Caroline Ryan has opened the World Track Cycling Championships with a dominant 5th place in the Individual Pursuit. Ryan recorded a fast time of 3min 38.269 in the 3km race against the clock, a time that placed her marginally outside the Bronze Medal Ride off. With this being the first day of racing at the Velodrome in Minsk, this bodes well for the three person team over the next few days.

Ryan paced herself well in the opening laps of the Individual Pursuit, with a steady opening kilometre. This set her up well for the remainder of the race, where she steadily increased herposition in the leader board. Less than half a second outside 4th placed Brown of Canada, Ryan attained her goal of achieving a top five result in the World.

This is a superb result for the second year running for the former International Rower. Hammer of USA recorded the fastest time of 3.30.206. The Olympic Silver medallist will compete against Cure of Australia for Gold later on today, while Brown and Edmondson (Australia) will battle it out for Bronze.

Speaking after the event Irish Head Coach Brian Nugent said "That was a great way to start our World Championships. Top 5 in the world for the second year running is a lot to be proud of by Caroline and for Ireland, especially in the tough Individual Pursuit."

Track Coach Andy Sparks added "The result today was suberb, and shows that Caroline is one of the top riders in the world. We are excited about the Points and Scratch still to come."
Next up for Ireland is Martyn Irvine, who will race tomorrow in the Individual Pursuit and the Scratch Race. Olympian Irvine has been showing good form this year, by taking a silver medal in both of these events at the World Cup in Glasgow last December. The Individual Pursuit is first up, and this is a 4km Time Trial. In the finals the two fastest riders will compete for the title, and the third and fourth fastest will compete for Bronze. The Scratch race is a 15km tactical bunch race, where the winner is the first person over the line.

The third member of the Irish team, Eoin Mullen, will compete later in the week in the Sprint, along with Caroline Ryan, who will race in the Scratch Race and the Points race. At the World Championships last year Ryan won the Bronze Medal in the Points race.