Although he didn’t repeat the stage win he took in the 2011 event, Martyn Irvine has said that he was pleased with his ride in the An Post Rás and is ready to start focussing on shorter, sharper intensity work prior to the riding the Omnium event at the London Olympics.
Riding the eight day, 2.2-ranked race with the RTS Racing Team, Irvine rode aggressively on several stages. His satisfaction is not derived from any one performance, but rather from the workload he was able to put in and the benefits that he will derive from it going forward.
“It was good, it was probably exactly what I needed,” the 26 year old told VeloNation on Sunday’s final day of the event. “I came in to the race thinking I could get something out of it, but I think I just have to be happy to get around it and get it in my legs with no drama.”
Irvine won the seventh stage in 2011 and tried to do the same again this year. He was part of a six man group which began fifteen kilometres into the stage and which gained over a minute and a half on the peloton. However his track bulk meant that he got into difficulty on the second category Bellavalley climb, which topped out 92.3 kilometres after the start.
Irvine went over the top approximately 40 seconds back and tried to chase back on, but this was thwarted by a very strong headwind.
Still, he is able to see a reason for it, knowing that it is the track musculature which he has built which makes climbing difficult. “On any hill, I’m at max heart-rate straight away,” he accepted. “I was kidding myself that I can hammer over them, but it’s gravity. I have to catch myself on, the priorities are in August.”
Rather than letting his confidence be affected, he focuses on the fact that he’s riding the Rás after only a few weeks of road focus, and for a very specific reason. “It’s a solid block that I wouldn’t do any other way,” he explained. “So it’s great to have it in my legs and to come out unscathed.”
In the video below, Irvine speaks about this and also how his training and focus will change and intensify between now and the start of the Omnium events on August 4th.
He had a solid campaign over the past two years, his consistency securing him a place in the London Games. Those results include fifth place overall finishes in the European track championships last October, then fifth in both the Beijing and Cali rounds of the World Cup. He finished seventh overall in the World Cup, and was also seventh in the world championships in April.
Although he’s yet to finish top three overall in a global event, he believes that a medal in London could be in reach if things go perfectly to plan. “I really feel like on my day, I can be standing on the podium,” he said. “I’m not kidding myself. All year it has been a tenth of a second away – a second here, a tenth there. Hopefully my day will come in August…”