Tour of Britain race prep

We caught up with Planet X pro-team rider Martyn Irvine during his preparation for the Tour of Britain which kicks off on Sunday. Martyn kindly took time to answer some questions between training sessions at the UCI school in Switzerland, to give us mere mortals a sense of what goes on in the lead up to a stage race. Just reading this made our legs hurt...

 

Tell us a bit about yourself?

What can I say! My name is Martyn Irvine and I like to think of myself as a professional amateur cyclist:) thanks to planet X that is!

What have you been doing at the UCI school?

For the past 2 weeks I've been training in Aigle, Switzerland with the Irish National team. The purpose of the training camp was prep for the track season which is just around the corner. Not exactly what I need with the ToB just around the corner. Most people with more than one brain cell keep asking why the hell am I not of doing and big road camp, good question but with the Commonwealth games next on my list I'll take the track when I can get it! At least I will of had a bit of practice at suffering, I just need to find the extra 4 hours endurance from somewhere!

How often do you train in an week?

15-20hrs cycling a week and depending on how lazy I'm feeling, 2-4hrs of core workouts. A lot of help from the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland with the gym side of things, throwing weights around basically!

What have you been doing this week?

Track stuff, short and nasty stuff but I've sneaked in a couple of hrs each side of the track time to get out on the road when I could.

Tell us about your nutrition plan?

Nutrition!! I eat anything with reason to be honest, cycling gives you a massive appetite. Chocolate is my Achilles heel!

What are your tactics for the ToB going to be?

My tactics are survival in the hills, being a trackie I ain't exactly feather weight. When it comes to a flat finish though I can hold my own. I'm looking forward to it.

What are you scared of?

Like I said, Hills!! Other than that I've done a lot of different racing so I'm pretty well prepared.

What's going to be the hardest bit?

Looking at the terrain it will be the stages themselves. The pro teams being well drilled will only make everybody else's lives hard!

Martyn is going to be sending us daily reports from the Tour of Britain. Keep an eye out on the site over the next couple of weeks for updates.

Martyn has been winning races all season on an off-the-shelf Nanolight High Modulus with standard model B wheelset. Lets hope he puts his hand-built Carbon 50s on for Sunday.

Go on lad - all the best with the race!

Use the comments box below to send Martyn encouragement, perhaps even some chocolate!

10 September 2010