Although Martyn Irvine looks likely to miss this weekend's London World Cup track meet due to the fractured collarbone he suffered last month in Guadalajara, Mexico, Cycling Ireland's head coach Brian Nugent believes that he should still be able to qualify for the world championships.
A UCI rule requires that a country must have starters at each of the World Cups in order to be able to ride the worlds. This in turn has an impact on the chances of Olympic qualification due to the high points that can be achieved at the world championships plus those World Cup events.
‘Still recovering’
“We have only one omnium rider, Martyn, and so he must start at each of the events,” Nugent said. “Martyn is not ready to race as he’s still recovering from his injury and can’t risk another crash. However we’ve spoken to the UCI in the last few weeks and we have been told that he should present himself at the start. The UCI’s doctor will then make a decision about whether he is fit to start or not.”
If the doctor rules that it is unsafe for him to race, Irvine’s presence will be counted anyway and he will satisfy the UCI’s participation requirement. If he is given the green light to start, he will do the minimum necessary. He could ride a lap of the first omnium event and then withdraw.
The rule is intended to ensure that riders don’t just turn up at the world championships without competing in the earlier track events.
Irvine won gold in the scratch race at the 2013 worlds. Nugent believes he has sufficient time to get back to top form before the 2015 championships in February.
CI has entered a big team into the World Cup round. Cormac Clarke, Thomas Fallon, Javan Nulty and Sean Downey will ride the team pursuit, while four out of Caroline Ryan, Lydia Boylan, Lauren Creamer, Melanie Spath and Josie Knight will do the women’s event.
Eoin Mullen will ride the men's keirin and sprint, with Shannon McCurley doing the women's keirin and Ryan competing in the women's omnium. Knight is down for the points race, Boylan for the scratch and Cormac Clarke for the men's points event.
