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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
O'LOUGHLIN AGGRESSIVE BUT NO JOY IN SCRATCH RACE FINAL
By Shane Stokes
17 Feb 2008,
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David O�Loughlin had a very aggressive ride in yesterday evening�s final of the scratch race at the World Cup track meet in Ballerup, Denmark, but despite repeated efforts to go clear of the bunch during the race he was unable to break the elastic.
The Pezula team rider could have conserved energy and aimed for a top six place in the final sprint but instead staked everything on winning the race, firing off a number of attacks. However while he got clear, a lack of cooperation from other riders saw the breaks brought back each time. He eventually pulled out on the last lap, realising that he had nothing left for the final sprint.
The race was won by Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands), ahead of Andreas Mueller (Austria) and Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal (Colombia). Dermot Nally (Ireland) finished 19th.
O�Loughlin will be frustrated not to come away from the race with more, especially as his aggressive riding could have resulted in more had the race played out differently. However he had a very good showing at this World Cup, finishing fourth in the pursuit and also winning a heat of the scratch race.
After leaving Denmark he will continue to train in advance of the world track championships in Manchester, due to be held from March 26 � 30th. Another strong pursuit performance there should see him gain Olympic qualification.
Meanwhile Ireland had two competitors in yesterday�s kilometre time trial. 1, Fran�ois Pervis (France) won in a time of 1 minute 2.1 seconds, averaging 57.985 km/h to beat Yevgen Bolibrukh (Ukraine) and Wen Hao Li (People's Republic of China).
Paul Healion was 15th in a time of 1 minute 6.1 seconds, while Morgan Fox�s 1 minute 7.9 seconds earned him 21st place.
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Men's scratch race final
1, Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands)
2, Andreas Mueller (Austria)
3, Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal (Colombia)
4, Rafal Ratajczyk (Poland)
5, Martin Gilbert (Canada)
6, Angel Dario Colla (Argentina)
Other:
19, Dermot Nally (Ireland)
DNF: David O'Loughlin (Irl) Pezula Racing
Men's kilometre time trial final
1, Fran�ois Pervis (France) 1.02.10 (57.985 km/h)
2, Yevgen Bolibrukh (Ukraine) 1.02.20
3, Wen Hao Li (People's Republic of China) 1.03.00
4, Matthew Crampton (GBr) ScienceInSport.com 1.03.20
5, Tim Veldt (Netherlands) 1.03.30
6, Tomas Babek (Czech Republic) 1.03.60
Other:
15, Paul Healion (Ireland) 1.06.10
21, Morgan Fox (Irl) Pezula Racing 1.07.90
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17/2/08 MORIARTY CRASHES IN BALLERUP
Louise Moriarty went to Ballerup hoping to show well in the World Cup track meet there, but instead was the victim of a crash which affected her performances. She hit the deck towards the end of Friday�s scratch race qualifier, losing out on the chance to get through to the final, and was off-form as a result yesterday.
�I was going really well, I was in front part of bunch with 200m to go when a French girl took me out,� she told Irishcycling.com. �Although I didn�t finish the race I thought I wasn't that badly hurt, but it obviously took it out of me because the next day in the points I wasn't feeling good at all.
�It's a real shame - I was cruising in the scratch qualifier on Friday. I would've gone through to the final easy, and that form should normally have held for Saturday too.�
It�s the second disappointment of the week for Moriarty, who has made great efforts to chase Olympic qualification on the track. She was passed over for Irish Sports Council funding several days ago, despite the fact that several other track riders were given sizeable grants.
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16/2/08 O�LOUGHLIN WINS SCRATCH RACE HEAT, THROUGH TO FINAL
Following his excellent fourth place in the individual pursuit final yesterday, David O�Loughlin won a heat of the men�s scratch race this morning at the Track World Cup in Ballerup, Denmark.
O�Loughlin beat Vadim Shaekhov (Uzbekistan Pro Cycling), Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands) and 15 others in heat two, going through this evening�s final.
Dermot Nally (Ireland) was 8th in heat three and also goes through to the final. His qualification is a good achievement, considering he also went in the 4000 metre team pursuit qualifying first thing this morning and dug deep there.
In that race, Nally, Paul Healion, Martyn Irvine and Brian Kenneally recorded a time of 4 minutes 21.10 seconds, which was six seconds slower than the national team pursuit record of 4 minutes 15.011 set in the Beijing World Cup on December 8th. They finished 13th in qualifying and didn�t progress to the finals.
Louise Moriarty was also in action, finishing 20th in heat one of the women�s points race. The Pezula rider was suffering the after-effects of a crash yesterday and also missed the cut-off point to go through to the final.
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Track World Cup 07-08 Round 4
Copenhagen, Denmark, February 15-17
Men's scratch race, qualifiers (30 laps, 7.5Km)
Heat 2:
1, David O�Loughlin (Pezula Racing)
2, Vadim Shaekhov (Uzbekistan Pro Cycling)
3, Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands)
Heat 3:
1, Michael Friedman (USA) Team Slipstream
2, Tim Mertens (Belgium)
3, Martin Blaha (Cze) ASC Dukla Praha
Other:
8, Dermot Nally (Ireland)
Men's team pursuit qualifying:
1, Denmark (Michael Faerk Christensen, Casper Jorgensen, Jens-Erik Madsen, Alex Rasmussen) 4.03.50 (59.143 km/h)
2, Great Britain (Edward Clancy, Gerraint Thomas, Paul Manning, Chris Newton) 4.04.40 (58.929 km/h)
3, Netherlands (Levi Heimans, Jenning Huizenga, Peter Schep, Niki Terpstra) 4.08.00 (58.075 km/h)
Other:
13, Ireland (Paul Healion, Martyn Irvine, Brian Kenneally, Dermot Nally) 4.21.10 (55.156 km/h)
Women's points race qualifying
Heat 1:
1, Wan Yiu Wong (Hong Kong) 5 pts
2, Aksana Papko (Belarus) 5
3, Jarmila Machacova (Czech Republic) 5
Other:
20, Louise Moriarty (Irl) Pezula Racing
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15/2/08 O�LOUGHLIN FOURTH IN DENMARK WORLD CUP PURSUIT
David O�Loughlin took the best-ever result by an Irish individual pursuit rider in a track World Cup event this evening, finishing fourth in the velodrome in Ballerup, Denmark.
Building on the seventh place he achieved in the Beijing World Cup plus the eighth from the Los Angeles round, the Team Pezula rider was fourth quickest in this morning�s qualification heats. Spanish rider Sergi Escobar was fastest, posting a time of 4 minutes 23.128 seconds, with O�Loughlin clocking 4 minutes 26.579.
Escobar went on to beat Alexei Markov (Russia) by two seconds in this evening's gold medal final. O�Loughlin was up against Australian Luke Roberts in the bronze medal ride-off but lost out to his more experienced rival, finishing two and a half seconds off his time.
However he can take considerable satisfaction from his performance, given that his pursuit debut took place a year and a half ago and he has made very strong progress since then.
Fourth today will advance his world ranking position from 14th. He can improve it yet again in next month�s world championships in Manchester, and will seek move into the top seven in the world�s list. By his own estimation this should earn him a slot in Beijing for the Olympics.
O�Loughlin�s performance is the best-ever by an Irish individual pursuit rider. The only competitor to better that was Declan Lonergan, who won a World Cup Points Race in Cuba back in 1996. Another pursuiter, Philip Collins, was third in the European championships in Valencia in December 1995.
Meanwhile earlier in the day two other Irish riders from the Pezula team were in action. Louise Moriarty was riding the women�s scratch race and was going well, only to crash out towards the end of heat one. Morgan Fox was 15th in heat two of the points race, and also missed out on progressing to the finals.
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Track World Cup 07/08 Round 4, Copenhagen, Denmark, February 15-17:
Individual pursuit:
Gold medal final:
1, Sergi Escobar (Spain) 4 mins 24.781
2, Alexei Markov (Russia) 4 mins 26.773
Bronze medal final:
3, Luke Roberts (Australia) 4 mins 26.282
4, David O�Loughlin (Pezula Racing) 4 mins 28.970
Qualification times:
1, Sergi Escobar (Spain) 4 mins 23.128
2, Alexei Markov (Russia) 4 mins 24.616
3, Luke Roberts (Australia) 4 mins 26.132
4, David O�Loughlin (Pezula Racing) 4 mins 26.579
5, Dominque Cornu (Belgium) 4 mins 26.681
6, Jenning Huizenga (Netherlands) 4 mins 26.726
(20 competitors)
Men's Points Race Qualifying (60 laps)
Heat 2:
1, Rafal Ratajczyk (Poland) 10 pts
2, Peter Schep (Netherlands) 9
3, Juan Pablo Forero Carreno (Colombia) 7
4, Nicolas Rousseau (France) 6
5, Evgeny Kovalev (Rus) Moscow 6
6, Hayden Roulston (New Zealand) 5
Irish:
15, Morgan Fox (Irl) Pezula Racing
Women's Scratch Qualifying
Heat 1
1, Kele Murdin Proman Cycling Team
2, Marianne Vos (Ned) DSB Bank
3, Hyo Seong Noh (Korea)
4, Jarmila Machacova (Czech Republic)
5, Anastasiay Chulkova (Russian Federation)
6, Christy King South Bay Wheelmen
Irish:
DNF: Louise Moriarty (Irl) Pezula Racing
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15/2/08 O�LOUGHLIN THROUGH TO BRONZE MEDAL FINAL
David O�Loughlin took another step towards Olympic qualification when he posted his best-ever individual pursuit performance earlier today. The Team Pezula rider finished fourth in the qualification round of the contest at the track World Cup in Ballerup, Denmark, and will this evening square up against Australian Luke Roberts in their ride off for the bronze medal.
Sergi Escobar (Spain) was quickest this morning, posting a time of 4 minutes 23.128 seconds. This was over a second quicker than Alexei Markov, who he will meet in the final. Roberts covered the distance in 4 minutes 26.132 seconds, 0.447 faster than O�Loughlin�s 4 minutes 26.579.
The Irishman can be satisfied with his ride, given that he placed seventh in the World Cup in Beijing in December and eighth in the more recent round held in Los Angeles. His time today is just over a second outside the national record he set in Beijing on December 8th, but it is the first time he has reached a ride-off for a medal and shows his strong progression.
Equally importantly, third or fourth tonight will advance his world ranking position from 14th. He can improve it yet again in next month�s world championships in Manchester, and will seek to end the season in the top seven. By his own estimation this should earn him a slot in the Beijing Olympics.
Come back later for a report on the bronze medal final.
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