IRELAND’s Denis Lynch has booked a place in next month’s World Cup final, after he finished fifth in the five-star World Cup class at Bordeaux in France tonight (Saturday).

The world’s top riders descended on the French city in a bid to collect the last points on offer, in order to qualify for the Longines final which takes place at Gothenburg in Sweden.

Tipperary-born Lynch continued what has been an incredible recent run of form with the stallion All Star 5, to post a double clear round. The points gained moved him up to eighth place on the final league table, comfortably among the top 18 riders who have made it into the World Cup final.

The result also boosts Ireland’s hopes of securing two individual places at the Olympic Games in Rio. The latest Olympic rankings were released on Friday, and showed Bertram Allen and Lynch currently holding two of the coveted paces on offer for Ireland.

Lynch and All Star 5’s Bordeaux result, which comes on the back of three podium finishes for the pair in the last fortnight, strengthens Ireland’s Olympic hopes before the cut-off date of March 6th.

The Bordeaux World Cup saw French riders fill the top-two places, with Kevin Staut edging out countryman Simon Delestre for victory.