O’Loughlin outsprints six-man group to take third title

DAVID O’LOUGHLIN (Navigators Insurance) dug deep into his vast reserves of experience and knowledge to win the national road race championship in spectacular, if not dramatic, fashion in Waterford yesterday where he outsprinted a six-man leading group for his third title.

The Mayo man won back-to-back titles in 2004 in Sligo and 2005 in Belfast, and he was back yesterday in battling form to outsmart and then outsprint young guns like the Murphy & Gunn/Sean Kelly pair, Páidí O’Brien and Mark Cassidy, and Nicolas Roche whose father, Stephen, won the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and World Championships in 1987.

It was the young Roche who threatened to take the race apart when he surged clear of the field 52 miles from the finish and gained a lead of some two minutes.

“I thought I might give them a bit of a surprise, but unfortunately it did not work out,” he said. “I felt strong at the time and just before those two groups got together I wanted to create a bit of panic in the back. It worked for a while but then it was too hard of a course for me to be on my own for so long and it was very windy.”

“At the time the Murphy & Gunn riders had stopped working so we stopped and that was when Nicolas attacked,” O’Loughlin recalled. “I missed the original five-man break but I got across to them on the bye-pass,” Páidí O’Brien said. “We rode for awhile and then Sean (Kelly) who was in the car with Kurt told myself and Paul Healion to wait for Mark (Cassidy) to come up and then we would have three in the leading group. We waited for Mark to come up and then Nicolas Roche got away. I was happy with that because there was so far to go. I was surprised that he went so early, because I felt he had the legs to win the race if he had waited.”

Mark Cassidy came across to the leaders in a 10-man group that quickly disintegrated once contact was made but, already, the defending champion, David McCann, had abandoned just two laps into the race and the home favourite, Ciaran Power, also abandoned suffering from cramp.

“It was now very tactical,” O’Loughlin said. The Murphy & Gunn boys were dictating the race and, with Ciaran (Power) gone, I did not have a team-mate.”

Rory Wyley, who will be a vet next season, launched a number of attacks and so, too, did O’Loughlin who was happy to see it develop into a sprint for the line which he won convincingly from Paidi O’Brien and Mark Cassidy, who added the under-23 gold medal to his bronze.

Nicolas Roche won the time trial in Dungarvan on Friday night. “I am very pleased with that. It is my first Irish championship.”

Denis Dunworth (VSK Pays Lamballe) added the junior road race gold medal to the time trial medal he won on Friday night also. The young Tralee man, who competes for Killorglin Credit Union, won the Junior Tour two years ago and has been cycling in France since April. He had more than three minutes to spare over Philip Lavery (Usher IRC) who overtook Sean Downey (Banbridge CC) on the last lap for second place.

Siobhán Dervan (Lotto Belgium) retained her women’s title with almost two minutes to spare over Jenny Fay (Ralph Condor) with Louise Moriarty (Global UCD) outsprinting Julie O’Hagan (Ralph Condor) and Heather Wilson (Maryland Wheelers) for third place in Carrick-on-Suir on Saturday.

Martin O’Loughlin (Dan Morrissey Carrick Wheelers) won the vets race.