The Irish team pursuit squad has advanced to the next round of the UCI Tissot Nations Cup in Milton, Canada, after the qualifying round last night, Irish time.
The Irish pursuiters have been in great form this year, lowering their own national record several times, and will now have a chance to notch another top result in Canada today, Friday.
The Irish women - Emily Kay, Lara Gillespie, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe - recorded a time of 4:22.405 in qualifying, finishing 6th of the 14 teams in the event. And with eight teams to qualify for the next round, the Irish went through. They were due to go again, in Round 1, today when they will be on the track with Australia.
The time recorded by the Irish women was more than five seconds slower than the new Irish record, of 4:16.877, they sat at the Jakarta Nations Cup meeting last month.
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However, the times of the all of the teams in the qualifying round in Canada last night were slower than usual. Britain were fastest in 4:14.824, more than seven seconds slower than the fastest qualifying time when the teams raced in Milton in 2022.
The United States team were second fastest last night, 0.501 down on the British, followed by Germany, who were +0.856. In 8th place, the Irish women were 7.581 down. The Irish women will face an uphill battle to be among the four fastest teams in today's Round 1 who will qualify for the medal ride offs.
For example, in 6th place in qualifying, the Irish were more than 4.3 seconds down on the Italians in 6th and just over 5.3 seconds down on the Canadians in 5th. One notable feature of the big nations' team pursuit selections in Canada is the presence of many of the big name riders in the field as nations seek to put their best foot forward in the Olympic qualifying process.
However, the Irish women know they can go much faster and will hope to pick it up in Round 1 today. Later in the day one of their number, Emily Kay, will also be in action in the elimination race in Milton.
Team Pursuit | Qualifying Result
