Videos

Team hoping world track champion Irvine’s presence will help secure place at Irish Grande Partenza Pushing for what would be its first-ever wildcard invitation to one of cycling’s three Grand Tours, the UnitedHealthcare team is hoping that the re-signing of world scratch race champion Martyn Irvine may help to secure a slot in next year’s Giro d’Italia. Several Irish riders could be in next year’s race, including Saxo Tinkoff pro Nicolas Roche, Garmin-Sharp’s Dan Martin and future Sky rider Philip Deignan. However Irvine, who in February became the first Irish rider to win a world track championship gold medal in over 100 years, is the only one of those riders from the region around Belfast. He hails from Newtownards, which is less than twenty kilometres from where the Giro will start on May 9th. His link to the Giro route also materialises on stage three, a road race stage crossing [...]

Recovered from fracture, a repeat rainbow jersey is next big goal Having won a track world title and then suffered a fractured proximal femur one month later, Martyn Irvine had a real rollercoaster in 2013. Four weeks after becoming the first Irish world track champion in 117 years, he found himself in agony on the road in Taiwan, clipping a road bollard and being sent clattering to the ground. The injury occurred on March 21st and meant that his debut with the UnitedHealthcare team had ended almost before it started. Irvine had an operation to put a pin in his femur and then worked hard to return to competition in August, but didn’t know until recently if his one year deal with the American team would be extended. Fortunately that is the case, with general manger Mike Tamayo confirming to VeloNation at yesterday’s route presentation of the Giro d’Italia that [...]

Italian climber believes podium finish could be on the cards Winner of a stage in last year’s Giro and overall winner of the Giro del Trentino in the same year, climbing specialist Domenico Pozzovivo has said that he is gunning for a better overall performance in next year’s Italian tour. The 30 year old Ag2r La Mondiale rider was at yesterday’s Giro route presentation and had reason to be pleased, with no less than nine summit finishes in next year’s race. These include an uphill time trial and, after he did an unexpectedly good race against the clock en route to sixth overall in the recent Vuelta a España, he may fancy his chances of gaining time there against his rivals next March. “I wish to upgrade my Giro classification. Before the Vuelta I thought I can reach the podium if the weather would be [have been] better, because I [...]

Australian rider wants to settle ‘unfinished business’ with race; Santos Tour Down Under may be on race programme Almost certainly missing next year’s Tour de France and thus focussing one hundred percent on winning the Giro d’Italia, Cadel Evans has made clear that he feels there is some unfinished business in the Italian race. The Australian rider made his breakthrough as a professional on the roads of Italy, riding his first Grand Tour there after switching over from mountain biking. That debut came in 2002 and he wore the Maglia Rosa on stages sixteen and seventeen. Although he then had a bad day and slipped back to fourteenth overall at the end, the performance showed his potential in three week races, and paved the way for later finishes of first, second, second, fourth and eighth in the Tour de France. Things didn’t work out for Evans in the past two [...]