O’Loughlin finally reaps reward

DAVID O’LOUGHLIN (Total Cycling.com) finally reaped the reward of honest endeavour when he won the national road race championships in Sligo yesterday.

He took over from local star Mark Scanlon, who beat him last year but was unable to defend as he is preparing for a Tour de France debut next weekend.

David McCann, the two time national champion, was the first congratulate O'Loughlin after he had crossed the line, 47 seconds behind, to claim the silver medal ahead of Nicolas Roche whose father, Stephen, won the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and world championships back in 1987.