IRELAND WILL HAVE a shot at a medal when they go head-to-head with Germany in the women’s team pursuit bronze final at the Track Cycling European Championships on Thursday.
Ireland’s quartet of Lara Gillespie, Mia Griffin, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe lapped Switzerland as they clocked a time of 4:20.881 in the first round in Apeldoorn.
That time was almost three seconds quicker than the time set by Gillespie, Murphy, Sharpe and Erin Creighton in qualifying earlier in the day (4:23.807), which saw them progress as fifth-fastest overall.
The only cloud on an otherwise impressive day came after the finishing line when Gillespie and Murphy clipped wheels, sending both sprawling onto the track.
Sharpe, the third Irish rider over the line, then could not avoid a collision with Murphy and took a heavy fall from her own bike.
While all three cyclists walked away from the incident, Sharpe was seen bleeding from a cut on her face as she was helped from the track by race officials.
The bronze medal final will take place at 5.43pm Irish time on Thursday, before Great Britain take on Italy for gold.
Ireland are targeting valuable ranking points this week in their bid to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
They are currently ninth in the women’s team pursuit, with the top 10 teams booking a ticket to Paris when qualification ends in April.
