UCI Track World Championships 2026 Day 1Wednesday 14 October Shanghai Velodrome, ChinaWomens scratch: Lara Gillespie silver Team pursuit: Ireland 16th, 4:27.239Next for Ireland: elimination final Thursday 11:30 Irish timePhotos: SWpixLara Gillespie won silver in the womens scratch race at the UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai on Wednesday. She lost the title to Lorena Wiebes on a photo finish.ScratchTeam pursuitDay oneScheduleIrish teamHow the races workThe Dutch rider took her third scratch world title in a row by the narrowest of margins. Portugals Maria Martins was third. It was another close finish between Gillespie and Wiebes, who beat her on all three stages of the Tour of Chongming Island on Sunday.Photos: SWpixHow the scratch was wonThe 40-lap race came alive in the closing laps. Valentine Fortin of France attacked with seven laps to go, and Wiebes went straight after her. Gillespie closed the move down and brought the bunch back together.Wiebes went again with two laps to go. Gillespie and Martins went with her, and the three came to the line together. Wiebes got her wheel in front at the finish line, with Gillespie a fraction behind in second. Italys Martina Fidanza was fourth. Fortin finished 23rd, and European champion Hlne Hesters was 21st. Martins got a warning from the commissaires for dangerous riding during the race.I wouldnt normally say Scratch is my favourite race but Im really proud of how I rode today, representing Ireland as best I could, Gillespie said.Of course it was so close and I dont think Ive ever been so angry to take silver at a World Championships, but I think I can be proud of how I raced. It gives me confidence for the races coming up.Womens Scratch Result40 laps (10km) 12:15 48.980 km/h1Lorena WIEBES 55Netherlands2Lara GILLESPIE 52Ireland photo finish3Maria MARTINS 58Portugal warning, dangerous riding4Martina FIDANZA 124Italy5Sze Wing LEE 19Hong Kong6Eva ANGUELA YAGUEZ 47Spain7Amalie DIDERIKSEN 45Denmark8Lea Lin TEUTENBERG 18Germany9Nafosat KOZIEVA 61Uzbekistan10Olivija BALEIYTE 27Lithuania11Scarlet CORTES UGARTE 5Chile12Teniel CAMPBELL 37Trinidad and Tobago13Prudence FOWLER 150New Zealand14Maeve PLOUFFE 1Australia15Aline SEITZ 59Switzerland16Emma JIMENEZ PALOS 60United States17Abigail MILLER 17Great Britain18Petra EVKOV 44Czechia19Misaki OKAMOTO 129Japan20Haidi YUAN 8China21Hlne HESTERS 70Belgium22Anita Yvonne STENBERG 56Norway23Valentine FORTIN 16France24Andrea ROBLES FELIX 138MexicoTeam pursuit: crash, then a three-rider re-runThe team pursuit squad had a difficult morning. Aoife OBrien crashed during qualifying. The commissaires offered the other three a re-run, and Emma Jeffers, Fiona Mangan and Esther Wong rode it as a trio. They finished 16th in 4:27.239, which wasnt enough for a place in Thursdays first round. Great Britain were fastest in 4:08.055, just over five seconds outside their own world record.Womens Team Pursuit Qualifying4km top eight to the first round1GREAT BRITAINqualified4:08.0552GERMANYqualified4:09.9783ITALYqualified4:10.2754NETHERLANDSqualified4:13.8435AUSTRALIAqualified4:14.3686CHINAqualified4:14.5697NEW ZEALANDqualified4:15.0848FRANCEqualified4:15.5109UNITED STATES4:18.81010BELGIUM4:19.01211JAPAN4:19.09312BELARUS4:21.28813SWITZERLAND4:21.49114INDIVIDUAL NEUTRAL ATHLETES4:22.13015POLAND4:24.55316IRELANDJeffers OBrien Mangan Wong4:27.23917CHILE4:34.610Elsewhere on day oneChina won the womens team sprint on home boards. Jiang Yulu, Tong Mengqi and Yuan Liying beat Great Britain in the final, 45.578 to 45.933, and Germany took bronze against the neutral athletes. The Netherlands won the mens team sprint again: Jeffrey Hoogland, Harrie Lavreysen and Roy van den Berg beat Australia in 41.954, with China third ahead of Japan.In the mens team pursuit first round, Denmark (3:44.043) and Italy (3:45.332) were the fastest heat winners and will race for gold on Thursday. Great Britain and France ride for bronze.Day One PodiumsWednesday 14 OctoberLorena WiebesWomens scratchLara GillespieWomens scratchMaria MartinsWomens scratchChinaWomens team sprintGreat BritainWomens team sprintGermanyWomens team sprintNetherlandsMens team sprintAustraliaMens team sprintChinaMens team sprintNext for the IrishIreland have a rider in Thursday evenings elimination final, about 11:30 Irish time. Gillespie races all four rounds of the omnium on Friday. On Saturday Emma Jeffers opens the session in the kilo at 04:00 Irish time, and Fiona Mangan rides individual pursuit qualifying at 06:23. Gillespie closes the championships in Sundays points race.Still to come Irish RidersIrish time on the right Shanghai is +7 hoursThu 15Elimination Final18:30 local11:30Fri 16Omnium I ScratchLara Gillespie c. 12:35 localc. 05:35Fri 16Omnium II TempoLara Gillespie c. 14:35 localc. 07:35Fri 16Omnium III EliminationLara Gillespie c. 18:05 localc. 11:05Fri 16Omnium IV Points raceLara Gillespie c. 19:40 localc. 12:40Sat 17Kilo time trial QualifyingEmma Jeffers 11:00 local04:00Sat 17Individual pursuit QualifyingFiona Mangan 13:23 local06:23Sat 17Kilo time trial Finalif Jeffers makes the top eight c. 17:35 localc. 10:35Sat 17Individual pursuit Finalsif Mangan makes the top four c. 20:00 localc. 13:00Sun 18Points race FinalLara Gillespie c. 14:00 localc. 07:00c. marks an estimated start, worked out from the official running order. Allow a few minutes either way.The Irish team in ShanghaiGillespie arrives in good form and already acclimatised. She finished second overall at the Tour of Chongming Island on the outskirts of Shanghai on Sunday, on the podium of all three stages behind Lorena Wiebes, and the week before that took silver in the omnium at the 3 Days of Aigle in Switzerland.She won bronze at the 2024 Worlds before taking European and world titles in 2025, and this week she races the scratch, the omnium and the points race.Aoife OBrien targets the elimination race. Her 2025 was disrupted by injury, but she has built steadily through 2026, with podiums in road races around Europe and a stage win at Rs na mBan with the national team.Emma Jeffers rides the kilo time trial. She made her national team track debut last year at both the European and World Championships, and has had a strong road season, with podiums at Rs na mBan and regular racing in one-day and stage races for Liv AlUla Jayco.Fiona Mangan returns for her second Worlds after her debut in Chile last year and takes on the individual pursuit. She rode her second Tour de France Femmes this summer and has been a regular presence in one-day races through the season.IRLIreland Track Worlds TeamShanghai 1418 October 2026Lara GILLESPIEScratch Omnium Points raceAoife OBRIENElimination Team pursuitEmma JEFFERSKilo time trial Team pursuitFiona MANGANIndividual pursuit Team pursuitEsther WONGTeam pursuitHow the races workMost of Irelands events this week are endurance races on the 250-metre track, so four laps make a kilometre. Five of the seven are bunch races, where tactics, positioning and a fast finish matter as much as raw power; the other two are races against the clock.Scratch Lara GillespieThe simplest bunch race on the track. Everyone starts together and the first rider across the line at the end of the final lap wins. The final is 40 laps (10km), with the bell rung for the last lap.There are no points and no intermediate sprints, but laps count: a rider or group who breaks clear and catches the back of the bunch has gained a lap, and is placed ahead of every rider they lapped, whoever wins the final sprint. That leaves two ways to win. Attack early and try to gain a lap, or sit in, save energy and back yourself in the sprint. Gillespie, a fast finisher, will want it to come down to the line, and so will Lorena Wiebes.If more than 24 riders enter, there are 7.5km qualifying heats first. Wednesdays field is exactly 24, so it goes straight to the final.Points race Lara GillespieA bunch race decided by points rather than by who crosses the line first. The final is 25km, 100 laps, with a sprint every ten laps, which makes ten sprints in all. Each intermediate sprint pays 5, 3, 2 and 1 point to the first four riders; the final sprint pays double, 10, 6, 4 and 2.The big swings come from laps. Gaining a lap on the bunch is worth 20 points, and being lapped costs 20, so a well-timed attack can be worth more than winning several sprints. If riders finish level on points, the final sprint decides it. It is a race of constant calculation, and riders and coaches track the scores lap by lap.Elimination Aoife OBrienOften called devil take the hindmost. After a neutral start, the last rider across the line every two laps is eliminated and pulled out, judged on the back wheel. It carries on until two riders are left, and they sprint for the title.Positioning is everything. Sitting near the front is safe but costs energy in the wind; drifting to the back risks being caught out by a sudden surge. The best elimination riders read the race and move up just before each sprint. If the field is too big, riders first qualify through 7.5km scratch heats.Omnium Lara GillespieFour bunch races in one day, the decathlon of track endurance racing. In order:Scratch (10km): first over the line wins, as above.Tempo race (10km): from the fifth lap onwards, one point goes to the first rider across the line on every lap, and gaining a lap is worth 20. It rewards riders who are active at the front all race.Elimination: as above, last rider out every two laps.Points race (20km): the finale, scored as above.The first three races award omnium points by finishing position: 40 for the winner, 38 for second, 36 for third, dropping by two a place. Riders carry that total into the points race, where every sprint point and every lap gained or lost is added on or taken off. The highest total wins the title. The omnium often stays open until the last laps, because a single lap gained in the points race can wipe out a 20-point deficit. Gillespie took silver in the omnium at the 3 Days of Aigle last week.Kilo time trial Emma JeffersOne rider, one kilometre, four laps from a standing start, held in the start gate until the countdown ends. It is a flat-out effort of a little over a minute, with no tactics, no drafting and nowhere to hide. Getting the bike up to speed from a standstill is half the race.Every rider sets a time in qualifying, and the eight fastest go through to the final later the same day to ride again for the medals, with the fastest qualifier going last.Individual pursuit Fiona ManganTwo riders start at the same time on opposite sides of the track, half a lap apart, and chase each other over the set distance. It is a test of pacing as much as power: go out too hard and the last laps are brutal.Qualifying is about the clock, not the rider across the track. The two fastest qualifiers meet in the gold-medal final and the third and fourth fastest ride for bronze, both later the same day. In any ride, catching your opponent ends the race.Team pursuit Mangan, Jeffers, OBrien, WongThe team version: four riders over 4km, 16 laps, starting on opposite sides of the track from their opponents. They ride in a tight line and take turns on the front, peeling up the banking and dropping back onto the rear wheel after each turn. The clock stops when the third rider crosses the line, so one rider can be used up and dropped in the closing laps.Every team rides qualifying alone against the clock. The eight fastest go into the first round, ridden head to head the next day, and the fastest teams from that round contest the gold and bronze finals later the same evening. Ireland have exactly four riders for the event, so there is no fresh rider to rotate in between rounds.Photos: SWpixThe post Lara Gillespie takes world silver in scratch as Wiebes wins by a photo finish in Shanghai appeared first on Irish Cycling News.