Paul Dring upbeat after UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup round two

Paul Dring upbeat after UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup round two

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The Great Britain Cycling Team ended the second round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup with no further medals – however coach Paul Dring is upbeat following the squad’s performances.

In the first world cup competitions of the year, the team raced twice over an intense two week period and must now complete their preparations for the world championships in July.

On the final day, Lora Turnham and Corrine Hall finished fourth in the tandem road race – unable to replicate their time-trial win two days previous.

Steve Bate and Adam Duggleby also finished fourth in the men’s tandem road race, just four seconds down on the sprint for the win and three minutes clear of the next bike on an unrelenting, hilly course.

The performances by Bate and Duggleby did not go unnoticed by coach Dring, as he marked them as his highlight of the past two weeks.

They’ve really stepped up and shown the level of performance that we know they’re capable of” Dring enthused.

“To get two podium positions in Italy last week and then back that up with a fifth and a fourth place here shows that they are right up there with the very best in the world and capable of winning medals. We know there is still some room for improvement there which is really encouraging.”

For the rest of the squad, Dring was pleased by performances – even if the results were mixed.

“As a summary of the two weeks, I think we’ve seen some really encouraging performances but some of the results have been a bit mixed and the guys know there is a lot to go away and work on.  I think, generally, we’re in a pretty good place as a squad and the results we’re looking for will come.”

In order to achieve that, Dring knows that work has to be done, especially regards hill climbing, which was identified as a particular weakness.

“There has been a lot of climbing on these courses and we know that’s something we need to go away and work on with some of the riders and we’ll be looking at that ahead of the world championships.”

The UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup resumes on 24-26 July in Germany, with the world championships returning to Switzerland from 28 July to 2 August.