IRELAND’S LARA GILLESPIE has won a gold medal after topping the points race at the UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai, China.

The 25km race was 100 laps, with the field contesting 10 sprints.

The 25-year-old Irish star was one of three frontrunners early on.

But Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen (37 points) and Belgium’s Shari Bossuyt (35 points) finished second and third, as maximum points in sprints two and five were key to Gillespie’s (42 points) triumph.

It made up for the agony of just missing out on gold in the scratch race earlier this week, when Gillespie finished millimetres behind Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes.

“It’s all sinking in now,” she said. “I’m just so happy I could pull this off. I came really close the other day, and I think that really just pushed me on there today because I was really annoyed with that second place.

 ”Overall, a really good week and I really just can’t thank Cycling Ireland and Sport Ireland enough for all the support over the last few years and all the people back home who are getting those key sessions in with me, helping me get fast for the track, so I really just want to say thank you to everyone.”

It is Gillespie’s second World Championship title in two years, having previously claimed gold in the Elimination in Chile in 2025. 

The Wicklow native is set to receive a warm welcome when she arrives back at Dublin Airport at 8am on Monday.

Written by Paul Fennessy and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.