Emily Kay claims top-10 finish in omnium at European Championships

Emily Kay has finished ninth in the omnium at the European Championships in Munich.

The sole Irish cyclist competing today, Kay finished the four-race event with a total of 113 points.

Italy's Rachele Barbieri took the gold medal ahead of Clara Copponi of France and Poland's Daria Pikulik.

In the scratch race, Kay rode strongly and positioned herself well in the closing laps to finish in third place.

In the tempo race, Kay picked up a sprint point, finishing in seventh place.

In the third race of the day, the elimination race, Kay gained 24 points putting her in joint sixth place on 88 points going into the points race.

Kay started the points race strongly picking up two points in the opening sprint and was successful in her efforts to gain a lap midway through the race and was awarded 20 points before a crash put a halt to the race.

After some 40 minutes the race continued and Kay picked up further points in the first two sprints, crossing the line in fifth place, with the total number of points gained resulting in a ninth-place final position.

Commenting after the race, Kay said: "It was a tough day, but ninth in Europe in the omnium isn’t too bad and it’s a pretty world class field so I was amongst it, which I’m happy with.

"I think the break helped me, really. I took the lap which was pretty tough and then I was struggling a bit so the break just allowed me kind of reset and then I scored in the next two sprints, so I put myself in the bike race off the back of that so I’m happy."