Ireland book spot in women's team pursuit bronze medal final at UEC European Track Cycling Championships

Ireland have qualified for Thursday's bronze medal final in the women's team pursuit at the UEC European Track Cycling Championships.

The Irish team, made up of the quartet of Alice Sharpe, Lara Gillespie, Mia Griffin and Kelly Murphy, finished in a time of 4:20.881 in the first round at the championships which are taking place in the city of Apeldoorn in the Netherlands.

That performance in Wednsday's evening session saw them catch Switzerland in the second heat as well as setting faster times than Belgium (4:21.281) and Poland (4:23.760) and means they will face Germany for the bronze medal at at 5:43pm Irish time on Thursday.

The result was a boost as they bounced back from a difficult qualifying phase of the team pursuit earlier on Wednesday morning.

The first run saw the Irish team, which had Erin Creighton riding in place of Griffin, sustain a crash before a more fruitful second run when they posted a time of 4:23.807, enough to rank fifth overall.

The championships mark a staging point for qualification towards the 2024 Olympics in Paris. When the five-strong Irish team was named last month, they were ranked ninth in qualifying with the top 10 set to progress to the Games.