Ireland�s David O�Loughlin finished twelfth in today�s qualification round of the individual pursuit at the world track championships in Ballerup, Copenhagen.
The Mayo rider posted a time of 4 minutes 25.203 seconds in the 4000 metre test, fading slightly towards the end. He was briefly fourth in the standings but dropped back as other riders completed their qualification run.
His final time was over four seconds outside the personal best he set en route to sixth place in the 2007 track worlds in Manchester. However, given that he is coming back from a bad crash last summer plus another fall earlier this year, he was not too disappointed.
�I�m building back up and perhaps this came a little too soon,� he said. �I only found out a few days ago that I got the wildcard and was riding here, so I haven�t done many hard efforts in preparation.
�I felt pretty good going between 2000 and 3000 metres, but then faded at the end. That�s where I lost the time.�
Jesse Sergent (New Zealand) was quickest this afternoon, his time of four minutes 15.988 edging out last year�s champion Taylor Phinney (USA). The two will ride it out for the gold medal this evening, while Jack Bobridge (Australia) and Alexander Serov (Russia) will compete for bronze.
None of the other riders will race later. All finishing positions from fourth back are determined by their performance in the qualifiers.
Ireland�s Matt Brammeier will be in action later on in the scratch race. He was fourth in the world cup in Manchester last November and is hoping to make a strong impression in his first worlds outing in the green jersey.
Men's Individual Pursuit � Qualifying:
1, Jesse Sergent (New Zealand) at 4 mins 15.988
2, Taylor Phinney (United States Of America) at 4 mins 16.102
3, Jack Bobridge (Australia) at 4 mins 17.169
4, Alexander Serov (Russian Federation) at 4 mins 18.356
5, Rohan Dennis (Australia) at 4 mins 19.292
6, Vitaliy Shchedov (Ukraine) at 4 mins 20.316
7, Westley Gough (New Zealand) at 4 mins 20.685
8, Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark) at 4 mins 22.239
9, Vitaliy Popkov (Ukraine) at 4 mins 22.999
10, Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal (Cuba) at 4 mins 23.595
11, Patrick Gretsch (Germany) at 4 mins 24.224
12, David O'Loughlin (Ireland) at 4 mins 25.203
13, Artur Ershov (Russian Federation) at 4 mins 25.352
14, Marco Coledan (Italy) at 4 mins 26.267
15, Levi Heimans (Netherlands) at 4 mins 26.405
16, Arno Van Der Zwet (Netherlands) at 4 mins 26.677
17, Ingmar De Poortere (Belgium) at 4 mins 27.400
18, Albert Torres Barcelo (Spain 4 mins 28.327
19, Jonathan Dufrasne (Belgium) at 4 mins 29.416
20, King Lok Cheung (Hong Kong, China) at 4 mins 32.195
21, Julien Morice (France) at 4 mins 33.391
22, Gediminas Bagdonas (Lithuania) at 4 mins 33.590
23, Jie Wang (People's Republic of China) at 4 mins 34.747
24, Xiao Jiang (People's Republic of China) at 4 mins 38.331
25, Magkoyras Neofytos Sakellaridis (Greece) at 4 mins 39.081
26, Silvan Dillier (Switzerland) at 4 mins 47.445