Paris 2024: Irish cycling ambitions firmly on track

Located 10km east of the famous Palace of Versailles, the National Velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines stands as a standard bearer for track cycling.

Built in 2014, the ultra-modern facility is tailor-made for international competition and it has lived up to it's billing throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was the scene yesterday of a sixth and final Paralympic medal for Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal, the pair leaving the stage with silver.

Watching events unfold in the eye-catching arena, one can only imagine what progress track cycling could make with a base of its own.

Last month the government gave the green light for a 250m track to be built at the National Sports Campus in Dublin, while Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) and Cycling Ireland have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a €15.4m velodrome in Limerick city.

It is hoped both projects will be completed by 2027.

"The opportunity of having our own home base, our own velodrome, presents to our future medal prospects is exciting," national Para-cycling coach Jamie Blanchfield tells RTÉ Sport.

"At the moment, we simply lack the exposure to all the nuanced elements that ultimately makes an athlete successful on the track."

Keeping up with the rapid development of Para-cycling sport is a costly business.

The UCI’s Final Equipment List for the 2024 Games indicated that the most expensive bike on the list - Japan’s V-IZU TCM2 frameset – was worth a staggering €126,555. The costliest frameset in Tokyo by comparison was €28,000.

The more immediate focus relates to matters in in the French capital where the Irish report card makes for positive reading.

"Over the last four days the whole squad have registered personal bests,"