O’Loughlin stuns track meet with unexpected win

By Shane Stokes

Navigators Insurance professional David O’Loughlin outlined his class on the track with an unexpected victory against three far more experienced riders in the latest round of the Revolution series in Manchester on Saturday.

O’Loughlin, who broke the long-standing Irish record on his 4,000 metre track debut earlier this autumn, got the better of Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins, former world pursuit champion Bradley McGee and Tour de France and Tour of Spain stage winner David Millar in the 2 kilometre roadman’s pursuit. The unusual race saw all four riders on the track at the same time and despite O’Loughlin having nothing like the pedigree of the other riders, he came out best ahead of McGee, Wiggins and Millar.

The victory underlines the Irishman’s considerable potential on the track and, together with his smashing of the Irish record this year, gives real hope that he can compete in the next Olympics at the discipline. He, along with several other Irish professionals and international riders, will have trials in the velodrome in Ghent, Belgium, later this month.