CYCLING:HAVING MOVED closer to Olympic qualification when he finished a fine fifth in the Cali round of the World Cup in December, Martyn Irvine is setting his sights higher in the Beijing round.
The 26-year-old is due to begin the multi-event Omnium campaign today when he competes in the qualification race, and is feeling ambitious. "Things are going well," he told The Irish Timesyesterday. "My preparation is as normal and I'm injury-free and healthy. For me I want a podium here, I know it's in me. I just need to execute each race the best I can and avoid any disasters."
Irvine’s fifth place in Cali followed a similar result in the European Championships. It left him 11th in the World Cup standings and, by Cycling Ireland’s estimates at the time, improved Ireland to ninth in the European table for National Olympic Committees. The top eight will qualify for London, and so Irvine needs to keep the pressure on in the three remaining qualification events.
They are this weekend’s World Cup race in Beijing, the final round next month in London and then the World Championships in Melbourne in April.
He will compete in four separate rounds today. The elimination race determines who goes through to the competition proper, then he will ride the flying lap, points race and elimination. Three more events follow tomorrow, with the combined total of points determining where he finishes overall.
If he succeeds in riding strongly, he will give himself a major boost for Olympic qualification.
Elsewhere, the road season for Irish professionals begins on Sunday when Irish road-race and time-trial champion Matt Brammeier lines out in the Down Under Classic in Adelaide. The street race is a warm-up event for the five-day Santos Tour Down Under and will enable the 26-year-old to shake off the cobwebs after the winter training period.
Brammeier is riding as part of the Omega Pharma Quick Step team and is hoping to perform strongly. He is starting his second season at the WorldTour standard; after stepping up a level last year with HTC Highroad, 2012 will give a clearer picture of how far he can go in the sport.
Fellow Irish ProTeam riders Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare), Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Dan Martin (Garmin-Barracuda) will begin their own seasons shortly.
