County Down cyclist Mark Downey has won the men's points race in the third round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Colombia.
The 20-year-old from Dromore dominated the race and is now leading the World Cup ranking in the event.
Pretty sure the Colombian crowd enjoyed that as much as I did! Back to back World Cup wins unbelievable feeling. #grateful #putyohandsup pic.twitter.com/PRi305uCe4
— Mark Downey (@MarkDowney03) February 18, 2017
He has secured back-to-back gold medals having won the points race in the second World Cup round in Apeldoorn.
“It was my first time racing at altitude so I needed to be careful; my pre-race tactic was to chill for 30-40 laps and then to come to the front and turn the gas on,” said Downey.
The result of a commitment to a cause. Well done @MarkDowney03 and also to @muntanerdavid for cracking the whip every now and then:) https://t.co/qEuFTSpC6N
— Martyn Irvine (@Martyn_Irvine) February 18, 2017
“I made three key moves in the race – I got away with five riders and took 5 points in the sprint, then the big guys got away shortly after that and I used the rest of the bunch to bring them back.
“As soon as I got to their back wheel I went, and went hard. It was around 70 laps to go, I picked up two sprints on the way and it took me 23 laps to take the lap – so it was long! The crowd was ecstatic.”