Less than four and a half months after he fractured his femur in a crash in the Tour of Taiwan, Martyn Irvine is preparing to make his return to international competition with his UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling team. The world scratch race champion will fly to Lisbon on Monday prior to the start of the Tour of Portugal two days later, and is looking forward to getting back into action.
“I have been feeling normal on the bike in the last three weeks,” he told the Irish Times yesterday. “I am back cycling five weeks now and while the first couple of weeks were depressing with the power meter not telling me the numbers I wanted to hear, I have been producing better figures since then.”
Irvine said that his leg is still giving him discomfort, due perhaps to the metal that was put into his femur to support the bone healing, but that he is ready to knuckle down to racing again.
He said that he is motivated both by his feelings of missing the sport, and also his desire to prove his worth and to ensure he has a contract for next year.
His current deal with the UnitedHealthcare team is due to expire at the end of the season, and the squad has not yet indicated if it wishes to extend that or not.
Providing his lack of racing doesn't hamper his speed too much, Portugal and the subsequent Tour of Alberta will give him opportunity to show what he can do.
SHANE STOKES