Bready man to mix it with cycling world beaters

Marcus will compete in the men’s individual time road cycling time trials tomorrow at 1pm, with live coverage on the BBC, after something of an annus mirabilis. Last year, the local man took a sledgehammer to the Irish 50 mile record, shaving five-and-a-half minutes from the previous record of 1:45:42.

While it would be a huge surprise if the local man could achieve a podium finish in tomorrow’s time trials, his steady improvement in results since an injury which almost claimed his cycling career suggests anything is possible.

In 2010, while in Switzerland with the Under 23 international elite high performance squad, suffered an achilles injury that threatened to ruin his promising career. Subsequent health problems, including a drastic reduction in weight, led some to believe the young man would never return to the high standards he had set for himself.

His Irish record performance, set almost exactly 12 months ago at the Ulster 50 TT Championships, made the cycling fraternity take notice. The promising young athlete - who still holds Irish records in junior cycling - was back on track, demolishing senior records in the process.

Now, he will be hoping to announce himself to the world with a strong performance tomorrow.

His uncle, Victor Christie, said that whilst preparations have been far from ideal, he still retains some hope the emerging cycling star could finish high up the rankings in the hugely competitive sport.

“You never know what could happen with Marcus. He is a big, strong young guy and if all things were equal between him and the very best - the likes of Bradley Wiggins and some of the Australians - he would definitely be in the top five, at least”, he said.

“Marcus’ preparations for the Games haven’t been ideal. He’s had some problems with the bike and that can make all the difference. You’re talking about a carbon-fibre bike worth eight or ten grand and he shouldn’t really have to worry about it the way he has.

“You just never know, though, and he could pull off a surprise. He is a confident lad, a very positive young fellow, and he has been training for this for about a year so he will be aiming for the very best. I would guess that Bradley Wiggins will be in at least the top five and some of the Australians - they have a lot of top, top class riders - will be up there as well.

“I would say that Marcus could be as good as any of them, with the right preparation and the right access to resources - cycling can be an expensive sport.

“He is 23 years of age and with the proper back up he can only get better. He will be hoping to do well at these Games after the progress he has been making over the past year.

“He will be in with a shout.”