Former world track champion Martyn Irvine has retired from the sport.
In 2013, the Newtonards man made history by winning the scratch race gold medal at the world championships in Minsk, as well as securing silver in the individual pursuit.
And while Martyn claimed another sliver medal a year later, the 30-year-old has struggled to find his best form ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games.
“Missing out on the Olympics is a big part of it and I fell out of love with cycling,the passion to train and put all that time into it has gone”
Martyn explained his reason for calling time on an illustrious career, which also included European, World Cup and Commonwealth Games medals: “I’m a bit older these days and I’ve had a few bumps and knocks and broken a few things. And the last year, anyone who follows cycling will know that I have been under-performing.
“Physically, I’m still there, I’m not any weaker and I can still do the job but honestly my head is just drifting off, and the way I used to race, it was tearing me apart and I don’t like doing that anymore.
“So for the last six months, it’s been creeping into my mind and I think I just bit the bullet and just made the decision, and I’m happy about it. I’m not scared stiff; it just feels right.”
He added “I have got three worlds medals, and obviously the world championships in 2013 was the one that capped it off, I could have stopped there and would have been happy. And I got a European bronze medal in the Olympic event that I was doing that year.So a lot of world cup medals, Euros medal and a few worlds medals so I am happy with what I have done”
“I just loved the fact that I got cycling to be more mainstream than it used to be,” he added.
“I’m glad I achieved some world and European success – I got some medals and got my name in the history books.”
