Ireland’s Anna Turvey has won the bronze medal in the women’s individual pursuit at the 2016 European Track Championships at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome in Paris.
Turvey, who has been part of the Cycling Ireland track programme for just under a year, led the bronze medal final from the start, pulling out an early lead of about one second against her opponent Ina Savenka of Belarus.
Despite a push at the halfway mark by the Savenka, Turvey continued to extend her lead, winning Ireland’s first female medal in the elite European Track Championships.
Speaking after the race a surprised Turvey, who was racing at the Road World Championships in the time trial last week said: “I’m ecstatic and shocked. I can’t believe it. I knew I was going well in the time trial because I had been focusing on it for Doha, but it’s just unbelievable.
"I wasn’t planning on coming here, but someone got injured so I said I’d race. I came straight from Doha and was a bit scared because I wasn’t on the velodrome for ages, but was okay after a few days."
Earlier in Friday's racing, Eimear Moran was relegated to sixth in her heat of the keirin and Eileen Burns finished 21st in the individual pursuit.
Eoin Mullen was also racing, finishing in 21st place in the sprint event.
