Here's a great little video highlights clip of Martyn Irvine's 2013 season. He started in great form with a gold in the scratch race and silver in the individual pursuit at the World Track Championships in Minsk in February.
He then crash just weeks later at the Tour of Taiwan while riding on the road for his pro team - US-based Unitedhealthcare - breaking his femur.
But he showed the determination that made him Ireland's first world champion in over a century, working away very hard out of the spotlight to get back to some gentle racing by late summer.
He then went on to win a bronze medal in the omnium at the European Track Championships in Holland in October.
Determined to rescue his season further, in November he won a gold medal in the points race at the UCI World Cup in Manchester. He topped a podium that included Olympic omnium champion Lasse Norman Hansen from Denmark and Elia Viviani, the Italian sprint star from the Cannondale top tier pro team.
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Irvine would then crash again at the Ghent Six Day in mid November. That crash proved to be much more serious than first believed and he has been in recovery and form-building mode ever since.
Currently in the US, he is facing into the defence of his world title at the World Track Championships in Cali, Colombia, which start later this month.
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As the momentum for an Irish indoor velodrome has been growing in recent months - with a major announcement today that a building has been secured to install one in Dundalk, Co Louth - we can think of no better example than Irvine of what might be achieved in the years to come by other riders if the right facilities are in place.
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Here's his career highlights so far
2013
- Gold Medal Scratch Race, World Track Cycling Championships
- Silver Medal Pursuit, World Track Cycling Championships
- 1st UCI Track Cycling World Cup
- 3rd, European Omnium Championships
2012
- 13th Overall (IRL) Track Omnium London Olympics
- 2nd Irish Time Trial Championships
- 4th Irish Road Race Championships
- 5th Overall in Omnium, World Cup Classic – Beijing, China (Jan ’12) 9th Overall in Omnium, World Cup Classic – London, England (Feb ’12)
- 7th Overall in Omnium, World Championships – Melbourne, Australia (April ’12)
- 7th Overall in Omnium track World Cup standings after 4 rounds
- 1st 100K Madison, Sei Giorni Della Rosa, Italy (July 2012)
2011
- 1st Stage 7 An post Ras 2.2 – Kildare, Ireland (June ’11)
- Irish Criterium Champion
- 10th Overall in Omnium, World Cup Classic – Beijing, China (Jan ’11)
- 9th Overall in Omnium, World Cup Classic – Manchester, England (Feb ’11)
- 10th Overall in Omnium, Track World Championships, Apeldoorn, Holland (Mar ’11)
- 5th overall in Omnium, European Track Championship (Oct ’11)
- 5th overall in Omnium, World Cup Classic –Cali (Dec ’11)
2010
- 2nd Irish Time trial Championships
- 6th Irish Road race Championships
- Irish Criterium Champion
- 13th Overall in Team Pursuit, World track Championships – Copenhagen (Mar’10)
- Irish Track Championships, 4k pursuits and 1k TT Champion
- Ulster Road Race Champion
- Bronze Medallist in Commonwealth Games – Delhi, India (Oct ’10)
- 9th Overall in Omnium, European Track Championships (Nov ’10)
- 10th Overall in Omnium, World Cup Classic – Cali, Columbia (Dec ’10)
- Set a New Irish Kilo record (1.03.5)
- Winner, Individual Pursuit as part of the Omnium
2009
- 7th Overall Team Pursuit, World Cup Classic – Beijing, China (Jan’10)
- 5th Overall Team Pursuit, World Cup Classic – Copenhagen, Denmark (Feb’10)
- 5th UCI 1.2 Cicle Classic Rutland-Melton, England
- 3rd Irish National Criterium Championship
- 2nd Irish Time Trial Championships
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