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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
O'LOUGHLIN'S SILVER CAPS EXCELLENT DAY FOR IRISH CYCLING
By Shane Stokes
13 Feb 2009,
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David O�Loughlin headed what was a very encouraging day for Irish cycling today, taking an excellent silver medal in the individual pursuit at the track World Cup in Copenhagen.
The Irish professional, who won bronze in the previous Beijing round one month ago, finished second to Taylor Phinney (USA) in the morning qualifying round. He posted a time of four minutes 24.891 seconds which, while being several seconds off the national record he set in the world track championships last March, was enough to guarantee him a place in the two-man final.
Phinney was clearly in storming form, posting a time of four minutes 15.223 seconds for the distance, and so it was of little surprise that he caught O�Loughlin in the final.
However the Mayo rider will be very satisfied with what is a superb silver medal, and will head to the world championships in Poland in a month�s time motivated to aim for another podium position.
The showing caps off a fine Friday 13th for the sport here. Daniel Martin was eighth on today�s stage of the Tour of the Mediterranean and is now fourth overall, while Philip Deignan was twelfth on the Genting Highlands stage of the Tour of Langkawi and moves to eleventh in the general classification.
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Track World Cup, Copenhagen.
Individual pursuit, final:
1, Taylor Phinney (USA) 4 mins 15.223 secs
2, David O'Loughlin (Ireland)
For bronze:
3, Alexei Markov (Russia) 4 mins 23.643 secs
4, Valery Kaikov (Rus, Lokomotiv) 4 mins 26.549 secs
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13/2/09 O�LOUGHLIN IN GOLD MEDAL FINAL
One month after taking a bronze medal at the Beijing round of the track World Cup, Ireland�s David O�Loughlin looks on course for a silver � or, possibly, gold � in this evening�s final of the individual pursuit.
Earlier today the Mayo rider recorded a time of four minutes 24.891 seconds in qualifying at the Copenhagen round of the World Cup, pipping Russian rider Alexei Markov by .014 of a second. This sees him go through to the two man gold medal final.
O�Loughlin will be up against the highly talented young American Taylor Phinney, who recorded an incredible 4 minutes 15.223 in the qualifiers. This makes Phinney the clear favourite for gold but, even so, O�Loughlin has shown once again that he is now one of the big names of track cycling.
He finished sixth in the 2008 world track champs and looks in good shape to improve on that when the championships take place in Poland next month.
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Track World Cup, Copenhagen.
Individual pursuit, qualifying:
1, Taylor Phinney (USA) 4 mins 15.223 secs
2, David O'Loughlin (Ireland) 4 mins 24.891 secs
3, Alexei Markov (Russia) 4 mins 24.905 secs
4, Valery Kaikov (Rus, Lokomotiv) 4 mins 25.213 secs
5, Ed Clancy (Great Britain) 4 mins 27.596 secs
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