Lara Gillespie is the new Points Race World Champion at the 2026 UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai, China.
One year after winning the world title in the Elimination Race, and just days after claiming silver in the Scratch Race at the same venue in Shanghai, the talented Irish sprinter from UAE Team L’IMAD has returned to the top of the podium at the World Championships, taking gold in the Points Race.
Powerful and tactically astute, Gillespie mastered a race that remained wide open until the very end, delivering a perfectly judged performance to secure victory and write another chapter in the history of Irish cycling.
Gillespie claimed the gold medal with 42 points. Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen took silver with 37 points, while Belgium’s Shari Bossuyt secured bronze with 35 points.
Mexico’s Yareli Acevedo finished fourth with 13 points, followed by another UAE Team L’IMAD rider, Dutchwoman Sofie van Rooijen, who placed fifth with 10 points.
Lara Gillespie said: “I’m really happy to be wearing a track world champion’s jersey again. It’s an incredible feeling, and I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has worked with me throughout the season to achieve this great success at the end of what has been a truly extraordinary year. From the national team staff to my UAE Team L’IMAD team, my family, my friends and my boyfriend, everyone has helped me along the way. I’m proud and happy to finish on the top step of the podium. It’s always an honour to fly my country’s flag high and show that I can compete at the highest level.”
(ph. Whitehead – SWPix)
