Martyn Irvine in Apeldoorn; the face says it all really…..
Martyn Irvine is “hopeful” that his fifth place in the omnium at the European Track Championships last weekend will go a long way to securing funding for next year for his Olympic qualification bid.
The three-time 2011 national track champion and An Post Ras stage winner said his placing in the event on the Apeldoorn velodrome in Holland was in line with his expectations going into the championships.
While he is currently being funded by the Irish Sports Council in his bid to qualify for the omnium at the London Olympics, that backing is not guaranteed for next year.
“I would obviously be hoping that fifth in Europe would show them (the sports council) that I’m on track; that that placing would keep them reasonably happy,” he told stickybottle.
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Irvine won the scratch race in Apeldoorn by lapping the field, a performance that left him sitting in the silver medal position with just one event remaining; the 1km TT.
However, he said that going into that event, the five races to that point and his bad crash in the elimination race the previous evening had begun to take their toll.
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“I just had nothing left really by that stage. The crash definitely did take a good bit out of me. I was left bruised and swollen; my thigh was about twice as big as it should be after it.”
He only missed the European bronze medal by 4/10ths of a second in the 1km TT.
While the Olympic qualification points he picked up for his placing in Holland have bumped him up one place to 11th in the European omnium rankings, he needs to be in the top eight after the upcoming four World Cup meetings and the World Track Championships in Melbourne in May.
He will only qualify Ireland in the Olympic omnium if he is eight or better after the Worlds.
“There are more points on offer at the World Cups than the Europeans. And because there are riders from all over the world, not just Europe, if you can pick up points and other European nations close to you don’t get points then that’s obviously very important.”
“It’s going to be a question of just keeping plugging away at it over the winter. I’ve a week in Spain training before the first World Cup meeting (in Astana the weekend after next), so it’s a question of preparing well and recovering from the crash.”
The following World Cup event is in Cali before Christmas and then there are two further World Cups in London and Beijing next year before the Worlds, the last qualifying Olympic event, in April.
“It’s going to be tough but I feel I can do it. We will see over Christmas, take stock at that stage. But it is something you just have to keep at, keep chipping away. It definitely is an achievable goal.”
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