YORK City Rowing Club star Tom Ransley and his Great Britain eight crew-mates signed off this season’s World Cup series with a bronze medal in Lucerne.

After narrowly missing out in their heat, the eight were handed a difficult lane draw for yesterday’s final but battled back to claim third behind world champions Germany and Holland.

University of York graduate Ransley, 25, and his colleagues will now switch their attentions to the World Championships in Slovenia at the end of August, the first stepping stone to the London 2012 Olympics.

The GB squad for the worlds will be confirmed on July 19.

In the overall World Cup standings, Great Britain relinquished their number one status for the first time since 2007.

Britain were the leading nation in Lucerne, winning four golds and a total of ten medals over the weekend, and they also dominated the first World Cup regatta of the three-event series in Munich.

However, they did not race in Hamburg due to fears over E.coli.