Enniskerry’s Lara Gillespie Crowned World Champion In Shanghai

Wicklow rider adds a second rainbow jersey to her elimination title and becomes the first Irish cyclist outside paracycling to win two world titles

Enniskerry’s Lara Gillespie has won the points race at the UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai, becoming a double world champion and delivering one of the greatest moments in Irish cycling history.

The 25-year-old took gold at the Chongming Shanghai Velodrome, adding to the elimination race world title she won in Chile last year. She is the first Irish cyclist, outside of paracycling, to win two world championship titles.

“I’m so proud, honestly it’s now kinda kicking in just now,” said a beaming Gillespie after being presented with her gold medal and the rainbow bands on the podium. “I’m really, really happy to do this.”

Rare company

The win puts Gillespie in rare company. Stephen Roche and Mark Scanlon won road world titles in 1987 and 1998, while Martyn Irvine and Harry Reynolds were crowned world champions on the track. None of them won more than one.

The history runs deep. Her elimination win in Santiago was only the third Irish senior track world title, after Irvine in 2013 and Reynolds in Copenhagen in 1896.

It was also Ireland’s first ever women’s gold at a Track World Championships. Shanghai has now doubled her own tally.

“I was quite annoyed with that 2nd place”

The gold came after a near miss earlier in the week. In the scratch race, Gillespie took silver in a photo finish behind Dutch rider Lorena Wiebes, who won her third title in a row, with Portugal’s Maria Martins taking bronze.

Gillespie said she had never been so angry to take silver at a World Championships, but felt proud of how she raced.

That frustration fuelled the points race. “I really wanted to sing the national anthem today, and I came close the other day,” she said. “I think that pushed me on another bit more today, because I was quite annoyed with that 2nd place.”

She was quick to share the credit. “It comes from so many people putting in so much effort all year,” she said, thanking her national team, her road team, her family, her friends and her boyfriend.

“We’re a small but mighty country and we can show up on the world stage and it shows we can compete at the highest level and keep going.”

🌈 Women Elite Points Race

Lara Gillespie is World Champion! 🇮🇪 Silver in the scratch on Day 1, the Irish rider goes one better and takes the Rainbow Jersey with 42 points 💚

🥇 🇮🇪 Lara Gillespie
🥈 🇩🇰 Amalie Dideriksen
🥉 🇧🇪 Shari Bossuyt#Shanghai2026 #TrackCycling pic.twitter.com/6khnincCyC

— UCI Track Cycling (@UCI_Track) October 18, 2026

The road to the rainbow

Shanghai is the latest chapter in a rise that has been building for years.

1. 2024, Ballerup.Gillespie won bronze in the points race at the World Championships in Denmark, her first ever senior championship medal.
2. 2025, European gold. She became the first Irish cyclist to win gold at the European track championships.
3. October 2025, Santiago. She won the elimination world title in a sprint finish, passing Britain’s Katie Archibald, a two-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion, to win by more than a length. She said then that she was “so proud of my country and our small team”.
4. March 2026, Le Samyn. She took the biggest road win of her career at Beobank Samyn Ladies in Belgium, after finishing third twelve months earlier. She thanked team-mate Elynor Bäckstedt, who set up the win.
5. July 2026, Deurne. She won a mass sprint at the Argenta Classic, her fourth victory of the season.
6. October 2026, Shanghai. Points race gold and a second rainbow jersey.

A Wicklow success story

Gillespie was prominent as a junior and under-23 rider, though illness and injury disrupted her progress in the latter category. She is a former UCD Ad Astra Elite Sports Scholar and a graduate of the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science.

She has since established herself as a leading figure in professional road cycling as well as on the track, and is closing in on Wiebes in both disciplines.

With the margins at the top of the sport so fine, attention now turns to whether she can improve further in time for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

For now, there is a rainbow jersey to celebrate, and plenty of pride in Enniskerry and across Wicklow.

World Champion Lara Gillespie - Instagram credit - @laragillespie