The rise and rise of Ireland's Martyn Irvine is continuing unabated, with the scratch world champion having secured a ride for the iconic Ghent Six Day next week.
By Graham Healy
Following on from his remarkable performances this season, Martyn Irvine (Unitedhealthcare) has been offered a contract for the forthcoming Ghent Six-Day. The Ghent meeting is arguably the most popular and iconic event on the six-day track circuit.
The Newtownards native had an incredible start to the year when he won the World Championships scratch race in February in Minsk, becoming the first Irish world champion on the track in 117 years.
Unfortunately, he subsequently missed out on much of the season after a serious crash in the Tour of Taiwan in March.
Irvine came back strongly in recent months and at the European Championships he won the bronze medal in the omnium.More recently he won gold in the points race at the UCI World Cup meeting in Manchester.
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The Ghent Six-Day starts on Tuesday and Irvine will partner Danish rider Marc Hester, who won last year’s Copenhagen Six-Day.
They will compete against many of the biggest names in six-day racing including Iljo Keisse, Robert Bartko and Franco Marvulli.
Keisse and An Post-Chainreaction rider Glenn O’Shea are the reigning champions, but O’Shea will not line up this year. Keisse will partner fellow Belgian Wim Stroetinga instead.
The race consists of six evenings of various types of races including time trials, sprints, madisons and derny races.
Despite his lack of experience in six-day racing, the race organiser Patrick Sercu has recognised that Irvine and Hester could be in contention. We'll keep you informed on how he progresses.
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