Says Irvine is one of the most naturally talented riders he has worked with
Andy Sparks, the US Olympic coach for Beijing 2008 and current coach to the Irish team, believes that Irish rider Martyn Irvine should qualify for the London 2012 Games. He also thinks could be possible for the Irish female competitors to do so, providing the next two World Cups go to plan.
Sparks is acting in a guiding role for the Irish competitors, who are currently in Columbia prior to today’s start of the Cali World Cup.
“Our chances of making the Olympics differ for each event. Objectively speaking, if you examine the results from the European Championship it shows that Martyn has a very good chance of making it to London,” Sparks told VeloNation this week. “For the women, the next two World Cups will tell a lot. With the new selection procedure put forth by the UCI, European countries have it much harder than in years past on qualifying for the Games. If our Irish women get consistent top 8’s in the team pursuit it would look promising to have them lining up in London come 2012.”
Sparks is the coach (and husband) of multiple world and US champion Sarah Hammer. He started working with the Irish riders last August, coaching the male competitors and giving his advice and input to women’s coach Brian Nugent.
Since coming on board there have been encouraging signs of progess, with the various riders showing good improvement. A team of five have travelled to the second round of cycling’s World Cup in Cali.
They will get their racing underway today when Felix English lines out in the scratch race, and Jennifer O’Reilly, Caroline Ryan and Ciara Horne do the women’s team pursuit. Irvine (men’s Omnium) and Ryan (women’s individual pursuit) compete tomorrow, then O’Reilly (women’s omnium), Ryan (women’s points race) and English (men’s sprint) finish things off on Saturday.
Sparks believes that they can perform well. “My expectations, across the board, are always going to be high. All of the athletes know what level of performance I am interested in and that is what we have been working hard for to achieve. For Cali, we have set the following goals: for Martyn, top ten in the Omnium and top ten in the scratch race for Felix. A time of 3.33 or faster for the women’s team pursuit, top 15 for Jennifer in the omnium and sub 3.45 for Caroline in the individual pursuit.”
Irvine’s ability impresses:
When asked by VeloNation to assess each rider, Sparks singed out Irvine as one who particularly excites him. “He finished 9th at the European Championships which is a very good indicator that he has a great shot of qualifying for the London Games,” he said, adding that through 12 Olympic points-earning races over two years, the top 8 European teams will qualify spots for London. “Martyn is incredibly talented and we will be seeing quick and continued gains from him as he is very new to the mass-start racing and will really come out of every race a new and better bike rider. Martyn is one of the most naturally talented bike racers I have ever worked with,” he enthused.
“Jennifer O’Reilly is currently our top omnium rider on the women’s side. Jennifer has only been racing her bike for about 18 months, having come from a rowing background, but you would not know that when you see her in the bunch. Jennifer had a very respectable first-showing at the European champs in the omnium and now we just need to get her stronger and fitter, which will happen as she has been working hard towards this goal.
“Lastly, our women’s team pursuit has been making steady progress and are now achieving some respectable times. We have a team goal of 3.33 or faster in Columbia and I really hope, and expect, to achieve it. Brian [Nugent] has been working hard with the ladies for the last year and over the last 3 months I have been providing some guidance and support for the project in the areas where I can offer something.”
Sparks will hope that the goals laid out for Cali are achieved. If so, he and the team will take satisfaction from that, but will also bear in mind that this is just the next step along the path to a better future for Irish track racing. It will be important to keep working hard in order to insure that the riders continue to learn and develop; with that in mind, he has set out some intermediate goals separate to the Olympic target.
“Long-term, I would love to see an omnium World Cup medal in the next 2 years for Martyn,” he said. “For Jennifer, a top 10 at a World Cup in the omnium would be a fantastic result. For our Women’s team pursuit squad, a top 5 in the next two years at a World Cup would be a great achievement.
“None of these goals will be easy but if the team continues to work hard everyday in training and have confidence in themselves, we will be successful.”
For a country with no proper velodrome, those would be fine achievements. Individual pursuit rider David O’Loughlin finished second and third in World Cup races during the 2008-2009 season, but before him you have to go back over a decade to find other medal winners. Declan Lonergan won a World Cup points race in Cuba back in 1996, while Philip Collins was third in the European championships in Valencia in December 1995.