Martyn Irvine on his bike ahead of schedule after leg injury

World scratch race champion Martyn Irvine has returned to training a little over two months after breaking his leg, and has said doctors are impressed by the pace of his recovery.

"I am way ahead of schedule. The doctors were expecting me to still be in bed, so I am delighted," he told The Irish Times.

On February 21st Irvine became the first Irishman in over a century to win a track cycling world championship when he triumphed in the scratch race in Minsk, Belarus. Exactly one month later he crashed on the fourth stage of the Tour of Taiwan, suffering a fracture to his proximal femur.

He underwent surgery in Asia before returning to Ireland, and has worked since then on his recovery with the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland. “They are steering me, what to do and what not to do,” he said.

He was able to do his first ride on Sunday evening. He will build gradually from this point and, if all goes to plan, he will return to competition in three months. “I have told the team I want to get back at the end of August, September. There will be plenty of boys wrecked and I will be fresh, so I will be raring to do something . . .”

Irvine currently has a one-year contract with the American United Healthcare team, and is hoping to secure an extension.