Olympic journey takes Kilkenny cyclist Mia Griffin to Australia

Kilkenny cyclist Mia Griffin will be in track action in Australia this weekend

placeholder image — Kilkenny cyclist Mia Griffin will be in track action in Australia this weekend

Team Ireland to compete at UCI Track Nations Cup in Adelaide this weekend

Mia Griffin's Olympic journey has taken her to Australia.

The Glenmore cyclist is part of the Irish Track team who will compete in the opening round of the Tissot UCI Track Nations Cup in Adelaide from today (Friday) to Sunday.

Griffin is one of five athletes who will take on four events over the weekend, starting tonight (11.30pm Irish time). Griffin, Lara Gillespie, Alice Sharpe and Kelly Murphy will ride in the Team Pursuit, with Erin Creighton as reserve. This is a key event for Ireland, as Olympic qualification in the Team Pursuit provides automatic qualification for the Madison event at the Games.

Creighton will also be in Elimination Race action on the opening day as she continues to gain experience among the world's best.

Sharpe and Griffin combine for the Women's Madison on the second day. The pair are back together in the fast and furious event after Sharpe teamed up with Gillespie in the same event at the European Championships.

Gillespie once again takes on the Women's Omnium on the final day of the weekend, following on from her exceptional fourth place finish at the 2024 UEC Track European Championships in the Netherlands, where she narrowly missed out on a medal by one point.

This is the first of two key events in Ireland's bid for Olympics Qualification. Ireland currently sit in ninth place for Olympic qualification with the top 10 nations qualifying.

"The team coped fantastically well with a tough first day in Team Pursuit at the Euros and bounced back really strongly to finish fourth," said Cycling Ireland High Performance Director Iain Dyer. "This keeps our Olympic qualification in TP, Madison and Omnium on track with two big Nations Cups to come.

"Hopefully the team can continue this momentum in Adelaide and we can explore our line up and race strategy further in both TP and bunch racing events."

Ireland's Nations Cup schedule (Irish time)

FRIDAY

Women's Team Pursuit Qualifying - 11.30pm (-1 Day)

Erin Creighton - Women's Elimination Race Qualifying - 4.01am

Women's Team Pursuit First Round* - 4.45am

Women's Team Pursuit Finals* - 8.46am

Women's Elimination Race Final* - 9.53am

SATURDAY

Alice Sharpe, Mia Griffin - Women's Madison Qualifying - 4.25am

Women's Madison Final* - 8.30am

SUNDAY

Lara Gillespie - Women's Omnium