IRVINE GETS OLYMPIC CHALLENGE UNDERWAY IN LONDON

Martyn Irvine began his Olympic campaign this morning when he lined out in the first of the six omnium events, the flying lap.

The Ards rider finished ninth of eighteen in the 250 metre solo test, with Edward Clancy (Great Britain), Shane Archbold (New Zealand) and Glenn O'Shea (Australia) being the three quickest.

Irvine spoke to Irishcycling.com in the buildup to the competition, and said that he was pleased with how things were going in advance of the biggest target of his career.

“I'm good,” he said. “Everything is going well and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in.”

Fifth in the European championships plus fifth in two rounds of the track World Cup, Irvine is hoping to step up a level and chase a medal in London. His campaign continues later today with the points race and elimination race, then concludes tomorrow with the individual pursuit, scratch race and one kilometre time trial. The best cumulative set of placings will determine the final winner plus the other medallists.

“I'm going in hoping for my best performance and I'm confident that that's enough for a good result,” he said.



Men's Omnium flying lap:

1, Edward Clancy (Great Britain)
2, Shane Archbold (New Zealand)
3, Glenn O'Shea (Australia)
4, Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark)
5, Bryan Coquard (France)
6, Elia Viviani (Italy)
7, Zachary Bell (Canada)
8, Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal (Colombia)
9, Martyn Irvine (Ireland)
10, Bobby Lea (United States of America)
11, Roger Kluge (Germany)
12, Hosung Cho (Republic of Korea)
13, Gijs Van Hoecke (Belgium)
14, Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spain)
15, Ki Ho Choi (Hong Kong, China)
16, Carlos Daniel Linarez Zambrano (Venezuela)
17, Walter Fernando Perez (Argentina)
18, Luis Mansilla (Chile)


Saturday:

Men's Omnium Flying Lap 250 m Time Trial; 10:30
Men’s Omnium 30 km Points Race; 16:54
Men's Omnium Elimination Race; 18:25

Sunday:

Men's Omnium 4 km Individual Pursuit; 10:00
Men's Omnium 15 km Scratch Race; 17:01
Men's Omnium 1 km Time Trial; 18:16