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Worlds, Holland March 2011
Last week the Track Worlds was held in Apeldoorn in Holland. All the competitions over the winter served as qualifiers for the Worlds. Two Irish riders, Caroline Ryan and Martyn Irvine qualified to go and race there. Karen Doyle was out there working with the team.
Last week the Track Worlds was held in Apeldoorn in Holland. All the competitions over the winter served as qualifiers for the Worlds. Two Irish riders, Caroline Ryan and Martyn Irvine qualified to go and race there. Karen Doyle was out there working with the team.
There was a huge welcome from the town of Apeldoorn with over 5000 in attendance watching the races and decorating the lampposts with orange and yellow bikes and placing giant bikes in the centre of the roundabouts and at the track. It was great to see.
It was a really exciting event with the best Track cyclists around the world in attendance and it was great to see the Japanese team also there. The Irish did very well.
Caroline Ryan qualified by coming 4th place in the Individual Pursuit in Cali, Columbia in December and placed 9th in the World in Apeldoorn. Caroline was originally a rower and transferred over to cycling on a talent transfer programme where she is getting stronger and stronger all the time. She was the first Irish woman to win the Henley Royal Regatta.
The Individual Pursuit event was won by world record holder, Sarah Hammer (USA), who trains with Caroline and the team. Sarah is an amazing athlete who competed in the Individual Pursuit (Gold), the Team Pursuit (Silver), and then went on to compete in the Omnium (six more races over two days) coming second.
Martyn Irvine placed 10th in the World rankings in the Omnium. He is a really strong athlete who has been consistently performing well all season and is hoping to qualify for the Olympics. He has to compete for a place in the Olympics against other European riders as only a certain number can qualify from Europe for his event for the Olympics. Check out Martyns blog to follow his progress: http://martynirvine.blogspot.com/
At the opening ceremony Eddie Merckx the Pele of cycling was there and we got to meet with him briefly. I’d no clue who he was but now I know what the big deal was all about; he’s been described as the greatest cyclist of all time, winning the Tour de France 5 times, the Giro D’Italia 5 times, the Vuelta a España once, broke the world hour record, and won the world championship.
