Martyn Irvine on the boards (Photo: Fred Draisma/www.fwd-photo.nl)
Martyn Irvine (Team Ireland) has been disqualified from the omnium event at the World Cup meeting in Kazakhstan in the elimination race today.
The 26-year-old who is in Astana on the hunt for vital Olympic qualification points was not only disqualified from the elimination race but is now out of the entire omnium event.
He will not be allowed to ride the remaining three races in the six-race event.
The outcome is a disaster for him and came after he had ridden well in the first two races; gaining a lap in the scratch race and winning the opening sprint in the points race.
Stickybottle understands the An Post Ras stage winner was disqualified from the elimination race – the third of today’s three omnium events - after the judges claimed he did not pull out of the action fast enough when he was eliminated.
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New rules mean he is now out of the rest of the competition. Cycling Ireland has lodged an appeal, the outcome of which will be known in the morning, Saturday.
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It is not clear if he has any chance of being readmitted.
He placed seventh in the flying lap, tenth in the points race and was eight in the standings going into the elimination race. There are 24 riders in the race.
Irvine was well positioned to score Olympic qualifying points because he was placed ahead of many of his European rivals. They are the riders he is competing with to get into the top eight slots in Europe that will guarantee qualification in the omnium at the London Olympics next summer.
He gained qualification points two weeks ago at the European Track Championships in Holland when he finished fifth despite a bad crash.
Irvine’s disqualification in Astana follows the awful luck that afflicted the Irish women’s pursuit team there yesterday.
Sinead Jennings, Ciara Horne and Caroline Ryan false started on their first attempt before getting away well second time around. However, Horne punctured due to a splinter in the track just after the 1.5km mark.
Only two starts are permitted in the event, meaning the women, who are riding for their Cunga Bikes trade team in Astana, were out of the race.
Ciara Horne and David O’Loughlin (both Cunga Bikes) were also in action today. We’ll have more on them a bit later.
