Ireland fifth in women's team pursuit qualifying at European Championships

Ireland got their UEC Track European Championships at Grenchen in Switzerland under way on Wednesday, with Alice Sharpe, Lara Gillespie, Kelly Murphy and Mia Griffin finishing in fifth place in the women's team pursuit qualifying.

Ireland set the standard early on with a strong time of four minutes 21.426 seconds ahead of Thursday’s first round, finishing top of the provisional standings ahead of Poland, Switzerland and Spain with four teams still to ride.

However, the final four qualifiers of Great Britain, Italy, France and Germany also set strong times to push Ireland into fifth place after the qualifying round, with Great Britain leading the way with a time of 4:11.594.

Ireland will now be matched with Poland in round one, who finished eighth in qualifying, and know that a top-four time in the first round will secure a place in the finals, which will take place on Thursday evening.

In the team pursuit event, the two fastest teams from round one will race for gold and silver, while third and fourth will race for a bronze medal.

The performance comes after Emily Kay withdrew from the squad last month due to injury, with Mia Griffin replacing her in the only change to the line-up that competed at the 2022 Track World Championships.

Alice Sharpe was back in action in the evening session at the Tissot Velodrome as she raced in the women's scratch race.

She finished in 12th place in the women's scratch race that saw the bunch denied a sprint for the win as Portugal’s Maria Martins and Spain’s Eukene Larrate Arteaga took gold and silver.

The duo weren't caught by the bunch following a breakaway inside the final ten laps as Sharpe sprinted to 12th place.