Ireland’s Lara Gillespie targets another UCI world cycling title in Shanghai

Lara Gillespie will face a familiar rival in her first of three attempts to win another rainbow jersey at this week’s UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai. A year on from becoming the first Irish woman to claim a UCI world cycling title in any event, the Wicklow rider has arrived at the Shanghai Velodrome on Chongming Island with confidence soaring, by her own admission riding faster and stronger than ever before.

The first test of that will come in Wednesday’s scratch (11.59am Irish time), arguably the simplest of track events, a 10km bunch race where the first rider across the line wins. The favourite is Dutch star Lorena Wiebes, who last Sunday completed her clean sweep of stage victories on stage three of the Tour of Chongming Island, the last stop on the women’s World Tour this season.