Martyn Irvine Finishes 10th In Scratch Race At The UCI Track Cycling World Championships

Ireland's Martyn Irvine finished tenth in the Men's Scratch Race at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Paris today, an event he won in 2013 along with a silver medal win in 2014. The result was disappointing for Irvine, who was Ireland's sole racer at the Velodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines today. Irvine's strong presence in the first half of the race proved that he has come back to form after breaking his collarbone at the World Cup in Mexico in November, however, he was unlucky to miss the winning move in the closing laps of the 15km race. The race was won by Germany's Lucas Liss, with Albert Torres Barcelo (ESP) taking silver ahead of Bobby Lea (USA), who took bronze. The World Championships run from the 18-22 February.

The Scratch Race is a 15km bunch race, where the winner is simply the first person who crosses the line. This lends itself to a very aggressive, fast and tactical event, and with Irvine being one of the pre-race favourites, he was always going to be a marked man. After being dominant in the first half of the race, Irvine was disappointed after the race "I just tried to keep it fast so it's not so much a stop start race, that's not my cup of tea. I think people know that by now. I was out of position maybe, and I didn't have the grit to fight across, I was stuck with a few passengers, and then I was a passenger to be honest."
For the first half of the race Irvine was active towards the front of the group, and looked to break away several times, but was reeled back each time. At the halfway mark four riders made a move, with another joining shortly after. This group kept a lead of about 100m until the closing laps when a chase group charged through, leaving Irvine behind.

This year Irvine has been concentrating on improving his sprint events in the Omnium "The reality is I have done a lot of sprint work and just a lot of speed work, and maybe that's hindered my tolerance to that kind of race. But tomorrow will tell that one. I'll try to get some good sleep."

Friday will see Irvine in action again, in the Omnium, racing the Scratch, the Individual Pursuit and the Elimination Race. Once again he is Ireland's only racer on the track, and racing starts at 1pm Irish time. The UCI Track Cycling World Championships take place in the Velodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in Paris from the 18-22 February.