Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly claim second gold at World Championships as Josephine Healion and Eve McCrystal bag bronze

Defending champions Katie-George Dunlevy and pilot Linda Kelly have stormed to victory in the women's B road race at the UCI Road and Para-cycling World Championships, with their compatriots Josephine Healion and pilot Eve McCrystal finishing in third in Zurich.

Racing over 84.7km with two laps of the city, followed by five lakeside laps, Lora Fachie and Corinne Hall of Great Britain led in the early stages of the contest.

Healion and McCrystal then attempted a bold breakaway and built up a 51-second lead over the chasing pack at halfway.

That buffer stretched to 57 seconds at one point, but Dunlevy and Kelly whittled the advantage away in the closing stages and went on to cross the line in two hours 22.46 seconds.

Sophie Unwin and pilot Jenny Holl of Team GB stayed on for second to finish in 2:24:09, with Healion and McCrystal rounding off the podium positions in 2:24:25 in the pilot's final race before retirement.

The victory for Dunlevy and Kelly marks a double-double at consecutive World Championships, with the duo successful in Sunday's women's B individual time trial, as well as in the corresponding races at last year's World Championships in Glasgow.

Dunlevy, who secured gold in the time trial silver in this race behind Unwin and Holl at Paris 2024 said afterwards: "To have two Irish bikes on the podium, us and then Eve and Josie, it was just textbook.

"What we were hoping for, what we were dreaming for, we were hoping to get that in Paris, but we didn't.

"We came away with silver, I was actually disappointed not to defend my title but to do it here at the Worlds, I’m so proud of us.

"It was an amazing race, really enjoyed the course, it was a bit of everything.

"It’s just really exciting, it’s great to have these courses