MARTYN IRVINE HAS won a silver medal at the Track Cycling World Cup following a frantic, sprint finish at the Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.
The Newtonards cyclist finished in second place in the Scratch Race on the opening day of the World Cup and kept up with the leading riders throughout.
There were some early breaks from the main pack in the opening laps but, by lap 23, the bulk of the riders were racing wheel to wheel.
Simon Yates of Great Britain tried to force the issue but the race ultimately came down to a sprint finish that was edged by Tristan Marguet from Switzerland
Irvine, who represented Ireland at London 2012, was hugely committed through the entire race and was rewarded with silver. In the bronze medal place was Roy Eefting of The Netherlands.
Scottish Cycling Coordinator James McCallum, speaking after the evening’s events, spoke glowingly about Irvine’s performance. He said:
Man of the match – Martyn Irvine from Ireland. He rode his socks off. He was constantly in the right place; unfortunately just ran out of legs in the last lap but still came second. It was such an aggressive ride.
“I spoke to him afterwards and he said he rode stupid but he was in the right place at the right time for most of it. An inspired ride – ride of the day.”
Elsewhere, Denmark won gold in the Men’s Team Pursuit while Great Britain won the Women’s Team Pursuit.
There was more good news for the home support as Jess Varnish and Becky James combined to devastating effect to capture gold in the Women’s Team Sprint.
