Martyn Irvine is fitting in well with his Unitedhealthcare squad and enjoying the criterium circuit in America.
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By Gerard Cromwell
Having taken what he calls a ‘surprise’ silver medal in the points race at the World Track Championships last month, Martyn Irvine is back on the road in the colours of the US-based Unitedhealthcare squad.
Although the affable Ards man came out of the Tour of Taiwan this year relatively stress free, compared to last year’s crash marred race which ruined most of his 2013 season, he did leave Taiwan with a niggling knee pain.
“The nice surprise worlds result took the pressure off and proved I’m back to form but I had Taiwan straight after it and when I got home, I had a really bad knee after it and couldn’t cycle for a week with the pain.
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"Looking back, it was just from coming straight from the track to doing long stuff on the road. It took a week of massage and rolling around the floor on foam rollers to get rid of that but it seems okay now.”
Irvine got his first taste of America’s National Criterium Calendar a fortnight ago when he lined out for the Unitedhealthcare team at the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama.
The two-time Irish national criterium champion soon proved he could handle himself on the short sharp US circuits, slotting well into UHC’s ‘blue train’ and helping Colombian teammate Carlos Alzate to victory in the race.
“It was good craic, like a nocturne type thing,” Irvine says.
“It suited me deadly. I survive the race for a while and then when I’m needed I just smash myself for a few laps. With three laps to go I hit the front. I did a lap and then the lads took over and we won the race with Carlos.
"I did my job for the team; showed that I can ride crits. I’m only really getting going on the road now and hopefully I can have a good run at things this year and have a good end of season.”
Irvine was active in two more NCC crits at the weekend, helping teammate Alzate to victory in both the Novant Invitational and Belmont criteriums last weekend and today (Friday) he was due to tackle his first National Racing Calendar event, the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic.
It consists of a 120 mile 1.2 ranked road race on Friday and another criterium on the Saturday.
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Now based in Denver with wife Grace, Irvine will make the trip home for a family wedding next month. The trip coincides with the Giro start in Belfast and while his team didn’t earn a wildcard to ride the event this year, Irvine will at least be able to watch part of it when he’s home.
“When I think about it, it’s hilarious how close it is to where I grew up and to where I live now. Every time it hits me now, I think ‘that will never happen again in my lifetime’.
"But I’m not even fit enough to get around it now anyway. I’d have been there as a token to be honest, the local boy. But I’d probably only be fit to give it a lash for a day or two and that would be it.”
The next time he returns home however, he plans on being fully fit for an assault on the national road race championships in Mullingar in June.
Always a contender in both the road and time trial events, Irvine is hoping to go at least one better than his fourth place behind Matt Brammeier, Nicolas Roche and Philip Lavery in 2012; a result he forged despite having spent much of the season on the velodrome preparing for the London Olympics.
“When I think back to 2012, if it wasn’t Olympic year I probably could have been there or thereabouts and obviously last year was non existent due to my leg injury.
"I need to get a bit of info on the circuit this year but that’s a definite motivator for training. I’m going to come home angry. I want to go away with some medals.”
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