|
|
|
Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
FIVE IRISH RIDERS IN MANCHESTER WORLD CUP THIS WEEKEND
By Shane Stokes
22 Feb 2007,
|
Email this article
|
 |
| Copyright Gerry McManus Photography 2007 - www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk |
 |
| David O'Loughlin - Copyright Gerry McManus Photography 2007 - www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk |
It’s been a long time since Ireland entered a team in a round of the UCI track World Cup but that drought will end tomorrow when five riders line out in Manchester. David O’Loughlin will be looking to build form and confidence prior to riding the world championships in Palma at the end of next month, and has the chance to add the points race to the individual pursuit he has already qualified for.
Navigators Insurance team-mate Ciarán Power, Dermot Nally and Paul Healion will join with O’Loughlin in the team pursuit, while Louise Moriarty will line out in the women’s individual pursuit. Power will also take part in the scratch race.
The team have been training in Newport and Manchester this week prior to the start of the World Cup and, speaking this evening to Irishcycling.com, Cycling Ireland’s high performance manager Frank Campbell says that everybody is in good form.
--------
Shane Stokes: Can you give me an update as to how things are going?
Frank Campbell: Well, we are here in Manchester now. We have basically finished our final preparation for the team pursuit and the individual pursuit. We have David O'Loughlin going tomorrow in the individual pursuit and then in the afternoon we have Ciarán Power going in the scratch race. On Saturday we have the team pursuit, Louise Moriarty in the individual pursuit and David will also go in the points race.
SS: So how have things been?
FC: Everything has been going well. We spent three days in Newport and then we drove up from there midweek on the rest day, and we have been in Manchester since Tuesday night. Things went well in Newport.
It is hard to know what to expect because it is only our third time on the track and the team pursuit is new for us, but we think it is the way for us to go in cycling, particularly within Ireland. And the guys have pulled together very, very well.
SS: Given that they are new to it, what would be a reasonable performance from them?
FC: It is not so much placings as time. We have set a benchmark of somewhere in the region of four minutes 20 seconds for the team pursuit, which would put us in a reasonable position time-wise. That is what we worked out. They have already done that pace in Newport so we are quite happy that we can do that and perhaps go little bit faster.
SS: David was fifth in Los Angeles, so what are his expectations there?
FC: Well, we've just finished the managers’ meeting here and there are more teams and more riders here than any other World Cup this year. Some of the top pursuit riders are here - Bradley McGee, Bradley Wiggins, all the top guys. But I would still like to think David will finish in the top ten and improve on his Irish record, which is probably the big thing for us. We want to start taking time off that.
The Los Angeles track is much slower than Newport or Manchester and we feel that if he can convert the time he did in Los Angeles into Manchester terms, we should be looking for something in the region of four minutes 25 - almost five seconds of the Irish record.
SS: Why is Los Angeles so much slower?
FC: It is down to the track surface, the air temperature, the air-conditioning temperature within the track. All those things come into play. Manchester is reckoned to be one of the fastest tracks in the world while Los Angeles is down as one of the slowest tracks in the world. There is almost a five seconds difference in times.
|
| Copyright Gerry McManus Photography 2007 - www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk |
SS: Is David looking likely to be the only Irish person in this year’s world championships?
FC: At this stage, yes. Unless we do something outrageously quick in the team pursuit. But it really isn't on. The track is very measurable and we know what we are capable of going at, and at this stage, four minutes 20 is our target. We might just scrape it in the team pursuit and that would be down to the number of nations qualifying or if we received a wild card or something like that, but at this stage, we just felt it was a good chance for the guys to race together and put themselves through the pressures that are required to ride a World Cup.
SS: As regards the points race and the scratch, what do you expect?
FC: The points race will be a big thing for David because he already has World Cup points from Los Angeles. If he gains some points again this weekend he should qualify then for the world championships as well, which would give him another string to his bow in Palma.
SS: What about Louise -how is she going?
FC: She is going very well. She has been training very, very hard in Newport and producing some very good times. We are quite hopeful that she will break the existing Irish record and with the times she has been putting out here, she will probably take five or six seconds off it if everything comes together on the day for her. I think the existing record is around 4’01, although you would have to check that, and we are looking at somewhere in the region of a 3’55 or 3’56.
SS: How would she go about qualifying for the world's?
FC: She would be too late to do so, it is only her first time riding in the pursuit of a World Cup so even if she won it, she wouldn't have enough points to get through to qualify for the Worlds. Again, it is really part of the longer-term plan into what we are trying to do.
SS: There was a story in the Sunday Business Post last weekend about the possibility of a track in Dublin…
FC: Yes, we have got a lot of phone calls this week about it. We have RTE with us this week, they are following our progress from Manchester. Cycling Ireland have been talking to the Institute of Sport with a view to a velodrome and we have heard some great reports. We are delighted to see it actually in the press at this stage.
It is a strange one, because we were with the Irish Sports Council and the Institute last Thursday and there wasn't have any mention of it. Given that the track was turned down a year and a half or two years ago, we didn't think it come up again like that. But it can only be good for us at this stage.
 |
| Copyright Gerry McManus Photography 2007 - www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk |
IMAGES COPYRIGHT:
Any images included in this article remain the property of the photographer, by whom all rights are retained, 2007 ©. Use of images for electronic or print purposes is may be possible with the express, written permission of the photographer.
|
|
|
|
