Paris 2024: Solace in silver as Katie-George Dunlevy plots future

The frustration from Katie-George Dunlevy and her pilot Linda Kelly was obvious.

The pair, fresh from taking gold in the time-trial on Wednesday, were back in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois with Dunlevy determined to retain her Tokyo crown.

The route, just short of 100km, was seven laps of 14.2km peppered with 14 hills.

With three GB bikes in the mix and the nature of road racing, it was always likely to be a tactical affair and so it proved.

Backing up Dunlevy and Kelly were Josephine Healion and decorated pilot Eve McCrystal in her Paralympic grandstand, the Irish bikes sandwiched at the front by GB's Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl in the very early stages.

With McCrystal and Healion drifting back, the shootout for gold quickly became obvious; the Irish bike looking for a solo win, their opponents seeking to use their sprinting prowess to full effect.

For Holl and Unwin, the tactic was simple; hang on to the Irish wheel and deliver with the line in sight. It proved to be a strategy followed to the letter of the law.

On the flip side, the Irish women were simply boxed in. If they didn’t break free, they couldn’t sit off the pace as that would bring the second GB bike, lurking less than a minute behind, back into play.

Mid-race discussions concluded with an impasse, Great Britain offering to take turns at the front if the women in green promised not to attack. While Kelly was unsure, Dunlevy flat out refused. Launching attacks, particularly on the hills, suggested the most likely way to victory.

For six of the seven laps, Dunlevy and Kelly toiled at the front, pushing on the hills but never able to escape their clutches.

"It’s part of the game," Dunlevy told RTÉ Sport afterwards, "but it is frustrating. They did the right