Ireland's Ryan Mullen takes a break from training on the outdoor velodrome in Colombia that will host the UCI World Track Championships this week.
Cycling Ireland high performance coach, Brian Nugent is upbeat ahead of this week’s UCI World Track Championships in Cali, Colombia, and believes he has medal-winning form in the three-rider Irish team of Martyn Irvine, Caroline Ryan and debutant at this level Ryan Mullen.
The Irish staff and riders, with the exception of Irvine, have been in camp in Cali just over a week, having travelled straight from a previous camp in Majorca. Irvine joined the Irish team from a training stint in Los Angeles at the weekend where he worked with renowned track coach Andy Sparks.
Nugent said he was keen to get the riders to Cali well in advance of the championships, which start on Wednesday, because the velodrome there is an outdoor track susceptible to wind and the other elements.
Advertisement
“It’s a tricky outdoor track with a cover but no walls,” said Nugent.
“So we had to have a good look at it and get in the various conditions; some days it’s windy, some days it’s calm, some days it’s slow, some days it’s not.
“But everybody’s confident and they know what to expect. Martyn came in three days ago but he has ridden here before so he has plenty experience and he’s feeling good. The mood is really good in the camp and we’re all just mad to get going now.”
Can the tank do it again this year? Martyn Irvine powered and bullied his way into the iconic rainbow bands this time last year and Ireland's first track world title in 117 years. In Cali he heads a team of three riders all capable of something extraordinary in the next few days.
Though the track’s exposure will make these particular championships a little more unpredictable, Nugent believes the team is well prepared.
“Last week we were spoilt with really good weather and it was really fast, but it’s going to be challenging if there’s wind or rain. You just have to get your gear selection right and get your head around the head and tailwind sections of the track; it should make it a bit more interesting.
“There’s a lot of variables here so that’s why we came out early to try and expose ourselves to as many as those as possible and I think it should stand to us.”
Unlike Ireland’s traditional approach to major championships, the team are not underdogs this time around.
Irvine won the scratch race world title at last year’s championships in Minsk and took silver in the pursuit.
Since then he has had two major crashes but still won points race gold at the UCI World Cup in Manchester in November and took a bronze medal at the European Championships in the omnium last October.
Ryan took a bronze in the points race at the Worlds in Melbourne two years ago and also took bronze, this time in the pursuit, in the UCI World Cup in Mexico in November. She is also the World No 1 in the pursuit.
Mullen is aged just 19 years and has the most modest track palmares of the team. However, he has the engine to go on and compete for world championship and Olympic gold in the years ahead if he were to focus on the track.
He was 7th in the U23 road time trial at the World Championships in Florence last September, despite being in his first year out of the juniors.
Last summer he won two bronze medals at the U23 European Track Championships in the scratch race and individual pursuit.
And while expecting a medal from him this weekend is perhaps too much to ask, if he were to surprise the sport and come away with something from the pursuit few in the Irish camp would be surprised.
Wonder Woman: Caroline Ryan's bronze in Melbourne two years ago was Ireland's first medal at a Worlds in over a 100 years and gained her extensive coverage across the globe.
The pedigree of the Irish riders means medals are a possibility for all three. To come away empty handed would be a major disappointment.
Related News
“Martyn has had a few issues with the leg after the crash in Ghent but he’s come back into some really good form and he was going great in LA with Andy and he’s just hit the ground running since he came in,” Nugent said of Irvine.
“It’s Ryan’s first World Championships so you just don’t know what to expect, you don’t know what’s going to happen on the day, there’s so many variables he hasn’t experienced because of his age. He could do a good ride on the day. But it’s more of a long term plan with him.
“Caroline is really up for this and her and Martyn are here for medals. She’s strong and really ready for it.”
However, coming into the Worlds with Irvine and Ryan both fancied to push for a medal, or even two, Nugent explains his biggest challenge; tactics.
“You have to change. In the past you could get away with slipping into moves, people giving you more leeway and then you’re finding out you’re being brought back,” he said the riders’ growing reputations internationally.
“So they are going to be watched a bit more, that’s life. But they know that and they know they’ll need to be more strategic in their thinking. You do have to change the way you ride a little bit, just be smart and wait for the right moment.
“Caroline took bronze in the points in Melbourne two years ago and of course she’ll be looking to go better than that. It’s funny the way things go and what she expects of herself now.
“You can’t always control the outcome or always go in a linear progression but that’s what we’re prepared for and we want to do better than before.”
Another factor to contend with, again outside the control of the Irish camp, is the brutal schedule the championships have dealt them.
Should Irvine progress from individual pursuit qualifying on Thursday afternoon Cali time, he’ll have the final of the same event less than seven hours later.
But in between those events he’ll have a 15km scratch final and a 40km points race final the following day. Four events in 36 hours; no problem says Nugent.
“There’s a lot in there," he concedes of the schedule.
"In the past that would have been a worry but they’re very experienced and they’ve come to expect that. They’re used to getting up for it twice in the space of an hour – like last year when (Irvine) won two medals in Minsk. It’s the same for everybody.
“A few years ago that would have worried us but with the guys have prepared for that and that’s the way track racing is gone and you need to produce.”
Of Ryan Mullen, Nugent urges people to keep an eye on him.
“For Ryan, no one knows who he is so he could really come in under the radar. There’s no pressure on him whatsoever, as I said to him, ‘no one expects you to do anything’. But we have a goal for him.
“We’ve talked about that and it would be trying to break into the top six in the pursuit. But at such a young age at his first World Championships it could go any way and he knows that as well.
“He’s focussed on getting his own ride down and for him a personal best is a goal. But he has bigger goals than that too. If it happens this year or next year or the year after, who knows?”
The championships start this Wednesday, February 26th, and the Irish trio will ride a total of six events.
Irvine takes in the scratch race Thursday, points race Friday and individual pursuit Thursday.
Ryan rides the same three events – pursuit on Friday, scratch race on Wednesday and points race on Saturday. Mullen takes in the pursuit only, on Thursday.
Topics
