‘I’ve stopped enjoying it’ – Former cycling world champion Martyn Irvine retires

A potential Irish Olympic hope calls it a day.

Former world champion track cyclist Martyn Irvine has announced his retirement from competition. The 30-year-old, who claimed a memorable gold in the scratch race at the 2013 worlds in Minsk, admitted that he was no longer as focused on racing and that the time was right to end a glittering career. "I’m not stopping cycling, I’m just stopping putting cycling first in my life," Irvine wrote on his blog. "I’m retiring from international competition. I was trying my best to not use the word 'retiring' but it’s probably what's happening to me." Irvine, who also won two world championship silvers in addition to European and Commonwealth medals, has struggled to regain his best form in recent times, and with the Rio Olympics less than nine months away has taken the decision to step away from the track. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that its a mental thing," the Co Down rider said. "However, its not that simple. I really miss racing, even now when I’ve barely stopped. It just feels like a natural end though. "For the last year I’ve been racing and under performing across the board. Frustration has been setting in all year and I’m sick of just turning up to bike races. I set my own bar by winning 7 medals in a row. World Championship, European, World Cup and Commonwealth Games medals all hang up in my house somewhere. "At the time, every single one of them was taken for granted. I never appreciated how cool it was to be winning medals. Since then I’ve just stopped winning and stopped enjoying it."