Ireland’s para-cycling world champions honoured in China

Katie George-Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal received awards at the UCI Cycling Gala

Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and her pilot Eve McCrystal after winning gold during the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro where they won two medals. Photograph: Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Ireland’s para-cycling world champions Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal were honoured at the UCI Cycling Gala in China last week.

While McCrystal couldn’t attend the event in Guilin, Dunlevy was there to pick up the award at the third annual gala, in doing so becoming the first ever Irish cyclist to be honoured at the event.

You can watch Dunlevy receive the award in the video above.

The pair reigned supreme at the World Championships in South Africa when they collected their first gold medal, finishing six seconds clear of the British pair of Lora Fachie and Corrie Hall, before doubling their golden haul in the same week in the road race, outsprinting Poland in a bunch finish to take their second world title at the event last month.

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The duo took gold in the time trial at last year’s Rio Paralympics and were also silver medallists in the road race there. The success success in South Africa was their first world title.

The UCI gala honours the year’s greatest achievements in professional road cycling with guests such as Chris Froome and Tom Dumoulin in attendance after their success at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia respectively.