Waterford’s Damien Vereker is in action at the Para-cycling Road World Championships in Ronse, Belgium this week.
This marks the first time Belgium will host the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships.
The event will feature individual time trials on August 28–29 and road races on August 30–31, culminating in the mixed H1–5 team relay.
The challenging course includes climbs like the Kluisberg and Hotond, offering a true test for para-cyclists.
Vereker and his co-pilot Mitchell McLaughlin are in action in the time trial on Friday at 8.30am before taking part in the relay at the same time on Sunday.
They come into the championships in a rich vein of form having recently smashed a number of records at the national championships.
A team of six riders will represent Ireland.
Reigning world champions Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly will attempt to defend their title on the tandem. The pair won both a Paralympic gold and a double World Championship in what was a landmark year in 2024, in addition to a World Championship won in 2023. Dunlevy has previously won world titles with pilot Eve McCrystal, and transitioned seamlessly into her partnership with Kelly.
Dunlevy and Kelly will compete in the Women’s B TT on Friday, with the class setting off at 11.23am CET , and the road race on Sunday at 8.35am CET.
The final Paris Paralympian making the trip to Belgium for this event is Richael Timothy, riding in the WC3 class.
Timothy will ride the TT at 3.18pm CET on Friday, and the road race at 11.05am CET on Sunday.
Cormac O’Callaghan will return to World Championship action, having previously ridden in Scotland in 2023, and will ride the MC1 class.
The MC1 class TT gets underway at 2.44pm CET on Friday, followed by the road race at 5.40pm CET on Sunday.
For the latest Waterford News and Sport, tune into WLR News on the hour and download the WLR App for news on demand.
Â