Offaly woman medals at Paracycling World Cup event
Ireland had strong team at big event
AN Offaly para-cyclist has won medals in two events at the 2026 Para Cycling Road World Cup was held in Gistel, Belgium (April 28–May 1).
There was intense competition across multiple classifications with Cycling Ireland selecting a number of para-cycling athletes to represent Ireland at the event.
Sinead Greenan, from Mountbolus Tullamore Co Offaly represented the Irish Paracycling Development Squad in two tandem events - a 30km time trial and 91km road race.
Sinead’s pilot in both events was Paris 2024 Olympian Alice Sharpe.
The Irish elite squad of Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly took top spot in the time trial with a time of 40:40,47 minutes while Sinead Greenan and Alice Sharpe finished third, just 02:03:62 minutes behind the winners.
On Friday 1st May, the road race was over a distance of 91km. Both Alice and Sinead started at the back of the pack, being on the development team.
As the gun went the girls made their way quickly towards the front and quickly found themselves with a small gap. They were joined by a German and Polish tandem, and worked together to establish a substantial lead over the chasers.
The Irish girls were the main drivers in the breakaway and were in the lead going into the final lap. The British team put in a huge effort to close the gap and latch on to the leaders, before launching a sprint to snatch victory. Behind them, the Irish, Polish and German teams were also sprinting, with Sinead and Alice finishing third in an exciting race. Unfortunately, the other Irish team of Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly suffered mechanical problems early on in the race, which saw them struggle to catch the main group.
The next event for Sinead will be in Lublin, Poland, where she will again compete as part of the Irish development squad at the Hetman Stage Race from May 14th – 17th. This was an amazing first international cycling event for Sinead, coming home with a bronze medal for the 30km Time Trial, and another bronze medal for the 91km road race.
Elite Team:
Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly (WB)
Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin (MB)
Richael Timothy (WC3)
Development Team:
Steven McGowan (MH3)
Alliser McSorley (MH4)
Cormac O’Callaghan (MC1)
Heather Jameson (WC2)
Ciaran O’Toole and Conal Scully (MB)
Sinead Greenan and Alice Sharpe (WB)