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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
O'LOUGHLIN DISAPPOINTED AFTER WORLDS PURSUIT
By Shane Stokes
29 Mar 2007,
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David O’Loughlin’s hopes of a new national record came to naught today at the world track championships in Majorca.
Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins went considerably quicker than all the other competitors, recording a superb time of 4’15.976 in winning his qualifier. According to Ireland team manager Frank Campbell, O’Loughlin had been doing times of 4 minutes 25 and 4 minutes 26 in training – a pace which if replicated, could have seen him finish between fifth and ninth – but once again, his racing effort proved to be slower. Both Campbell and O’Loughlin are mystified as to why this is the case.
O’Loughlin set a time of 4 minutes 30.595 seconds today, finishing 17th. This was approximately 0.7 seconds outside his national record. He lost a small amount of time when he thought he had a puncture, swinging up the banking, but Campbell thinks that an improvement of his PB was still unlikely. “We have looked at the splits and he didn’t lose a huge amount of time from that,” he said.
“I thought the tub had rolled or the wheel had pulled,” said a disappointed O’Loughlin afterwards. “I was not sure. I felt okay, but I am disappointed because I was hoping to go a couple of seconds faster. In training I am a lot quicker. I was going much, much faster than on the day [of racing], so we have to work out what is happening. Both here and in the last three World Cups, I didn’t put it together on the day so it is disappointing from that point of view.”
“The training was going along the lines of four minutes 25 or 4 minutes 26 seconds but it didn't happen today,” said Campbell. “David thought at one stage he got a puncture, and he slowed up and went up the banking as a result. He wasn't sure what it was. We have checked the bike and can’t find anything wrong, so we think that perhaps his tyre slipped slightly on the banking. He is using new tubs here.
“We have to look at the figures now. We plot everything, we have all the figures from training and from racing. He goes a lot quicker in the training rides. This is all new to us, we have a lot to learn about track racing compared to the other nations, so we will sit down and try to work out the reason for what is happening on race days.”
O’Loughlin was clearly disappointed, but was able to see some positives. “There is a significant difference in times, between what I am doing in training and what I'm doing on the day. So I have to work out what is happening. At least there is potential there.
“I had a good World Cup series and it was a good process in that I learnt a lot. I can take a lot out of it and go on from here.” O’Loughlin was sixth in the pursuit world rankings after riding three rounds of the World Cup.
He is planning to have a light track session tomorrow prior to riding the points race on Saturday. Wiggins, meanwhile, looks almost certain to take gold tonight after beating his fellow finalist Robert Bartko (Germany), last year’s champion, by over four and a half seconds in qualifying.
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World track championships, Palma, Mallorca:
Men’s individual pursuit:
Qualifying:
1, Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) 4 mins 15.976 (56.255 km/h)
2, Robert Bartko (Germany) 4 mins 20.487
3, Sergi Escobar Roure (Spain) 4 mins 20.501
4, Antonio Tauler Llull (Spain) 4 mins 22.795
5, Jenning Huizenga (Netherlands) 4 mins 25.020
6, Jens Mouris (Netherlands) 4 mins 25.094
Other:
17, David O'Loughlin (Ireland) 4 mins 30.595
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29/3/07 O’LOUGHLIN BEGINS WORLD TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS CAMPAIGN TODAY
David O’Loughlin heads into the opening day of the world championships in Palma, Majorca today aiming for a new personal best and a top ten finish in the individual pursuit. The Navigators Insurance professional first rode the discipline back in September but since then has fared very well, particularly for someone so new to track racing. He set a new national record of 4 minutes 29.909 seconds and placed eighth, sixth and eighth in the Moscow, Los Angeles and Manchester World Cups to finish a fine sixth overall in the world rankings.
Last month, 28 year old O’Loughlin lined out in that race in Manchester hoping to improve upon his national record but despite going considerably faster in training, he was slower during the race itself. Team manager Frank Campbell said yesterday that he felt a lack of adequate tapering was the reason, and so things have been structured quite differently this week.
O’Loughlin will be up against stiffer competition than in the World Cups but if he achieves his targets time-wise – Campbell hopes 4 minutes 25 or 4 minutes 26 could be on the cards – then a top ten placing should be on.
The 28 year old is Ireland’s sole competitor at the championships, and is the first at this level since Phil Collins and Declan Lonergan took part in 1996. He will also ride the points race on Saturday.
Irishcycling.com talked to O’Loughlin and Campbell yesterday in Palma Arena:
David O’Loughlin:
Shane Stokes: How are you feeling here?
David O’Loughlin: I am feeling good. I am more confident going into this, I suppose I am just learning all the time. There is a big learning phase in the World Cups. That is good, we wanted to find out as much as we could about it all. I am looking forward to the races here.
SS: Frankie was saying that perhaps you did a little bit too much in the run-up to Manchester?
DOL: Possibly a little bit too much, yes. I also had a lot of travelling as well. I was going pretty well in training but since then things have been going well so hopefully I will be able to produce something good here.
SS: What are your targets here?
DOL: I want to improve upon my personal best, and I would be looking for a top-10 finish. They are my targets for this year, it is hard to go out and say that you are going to set the world on fire in the first year that you're doing this. You're just trying to improve all the time, concentrate on what you are doing and not worry so much about the result. If I keep improving myself than that will come.
Part of what we are looking at is the Olympic qualification and the standards for that. Going into this I am ranked sixth in the world, so if I come out of next year with the same ranking that will be good.
SS: Are you encouraged by how quickly this has all come together?
DOL: Yes, definitely, and because I am coming off a road background. I have never really done any track at all, so I must be doing good enough. I learnt a lot over the winter. I want to enjoy it and to finish the track season off in good shape.
SS: What is the plan for the points race?
DOL: Well, I have done a bit on that... I looked at videos and things like that - again, as I don't come from a track background, I don't know really know a lot about it so. I didn't know who was who or anything. I have talked to a few people who had some experience and I know the tips and techniques now and who to watch and that, so that will help.
I really enjoy the points race, so I am really looking forward to that. Hopefully it goes well.
SS: You have done a few World Cups this year so does it make you less nervous each time?
Definitely. That is one of the things that I have noticed. When you are new to it all and you don't really know what is going on, you're not really sure of the routines and things like that. But everyone I have gone to [major competitions], I have been more and more relaxed. Here I am very relaxed and I am looking forward to it.
SS: What do you think of this track?
DOL: The track is nice, from what I have seen of it. It has got short straits and long bankings so that makes it quite smooth. It seems to be pretty fast, as fast as Manchester anyway. We will see tomorrow exactly how fast.
Shane Stokes: How are things going with David?
Frank Campbell: Well, we were looking over all the work we were doing with him leading up to Moscow, Los Angeles, Manchester and we took some advice. We felt we were doing too much work with him in the lead up to it and pursuiting is all about coming to the races very, very fresh.
You don't make a big change to his workload so he has done a lot less. It is finding the activity that keeps him mentally fresh without riding his bike. But he seems to have got his head around it this week.
We did a three kilometre race and has put him on a good time, has put him on a lot quicker than he has gone before. We are looking at achieving that. We feel somewhere in the region of four minutes 25, 4 minutes 26 is what he is capable of. He has shown that in the past but always in the first couple of days of training, so now we are hoping we can prolong it to the competition day.
SS: I heard a suggestion recently that perhaps somebody with an international track background might work with the Federation in the future.
FC: We are looking at employing a new coach, a consultant. We have been talking to a number of people and are hoping to get that finalised within the next week or so. Not for this project, but in moving on, for Beijing qualification.
This person, whoever we get, will have a lot of experience. As I was saying before, Brian Nugent was left in at the deep end. He ran a young track initiative in the past and he was moved from that into the elite. It was very unfair on him because he wasn't given any guidance, there is nobody there in Ireland to give him that sort of guidance.
We have now appraised that, we have got a guy here who was riding the world championships and who has just finished joint sixth in the World Cup series. He did Moscow, Los Angeles and Manchester, three of the races. So off we are going to move the thing forward, we need that sort of coaching ability so we went out and talked to a number of coaches. The problem is that we are in the middle of an Olympic cycle so there not that many out there who are spare.
But then we are starting from such a low base and our expertise - anybody with international track experience has got more than we have at the moment.
SS: Is David going for a certain time here, or is he chasing a finishing position?
FC: No, a time here. We are looking at something in the region of four minutes 25 seconds, which we think will get him between eight and twelfth. That would be tremendous for his first time at a world championships.
SS: What is he needs to do to qualify for the Olympics?
FC: Well, we are heading down the line of team pursuit because that will allow us to qualify more athletes in more events, believe it or not. If it was just left the individual David would have to finish top eighth the world which is a lot of stress on him for one event. And not in this event, but throughout the year in the World Cups.
Anyway, so what we are looking at his top 12 nation in the team pursuit gets you automatic qualification. The riders concerned will be able to ride the individual pursuit, the team pursuit and the points race, so it gives us quite a bit of scope then to qualify more riders as well.
SS: How will that qualification be achieved?
FC: We will have to do the World Cups next year, doing four or five of them. They start in Australia Beijing, Copenhagen, Los Angeles and finishing with the world championships in Manchester. That is the 2008 season, really.
SS: You said that David was joint sixth and he needs to finish top eight in the world rankings (to get Olympic qualification). Will it be tougher next year?
FC: Yes. Next year there will be more riders with the Olympic year. A lot of guys know they are good pursuiters, for example, and test other guys out. Wiggins only rides one event because he knows exactly what he needs to do. Because it is so measurable, you have to be very, very sure of what you're doing.
SS: What about the points race?
FC: Well, he is improving every time he rides it, to be honest. It is just a question of gaining experience. We have changed his position… we had a look at it and decided to do that. He has got a new bike and we have changed his position on that make him a bit more upright, and he feels much more comfortable in that position. He is looking forward to it. We did some points work the first day when we came here and he is very happy with things.
SS: Does that mean his pursuit position has changed as well?
FC: No. That was the problem, he was trying to ride the same bike in the pursuit and the points race. It was too low the front end, so what we have done is set him up with another bike. He got a new bike for the pursuit and we have set him up with the other one for the points race.
SS: So does he have a target here in terms of the points race?
FC: Well, David always set his targets high. He is looking for a medal here. If he gets the things right that he got right in Los Angeles and cuts out some of the mistakes he makes where he rides too hard in some areas where he doesn't need to do, that will help a lot. It is about controlled power here. It is a longer and event here as well than it is in the World Cups. We are looking forward to it, to be honest. We always let him and really race in the points race and let him enjoy it. It makes the weekend have two focuses, which is good for him [in terms of dividing the pressure].
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