Winner alright: Michael O'Loughlin shows his delight after winning the national junior road race title in Cong, Co. Mayo yesterday. The NRPT/Magnet.ie man had well over a minute to spare on runner-up Darragh O'Mahony (O'Leary's Stone Kanturk) with Sean Yelverton (Mego Racing Team) taking bronze. (Photo: Jimmy McElroy)
By Brian Canty
Newly-crowned national junior road and time-trial champion Michael O’Loughlin is today reflecting on a dream weekend where he totally blitzed the opposition over two memorable days.
The NRPT/Magnet.ie man had over minute to spare on runner-up Simon Tuomey (Cork Giant) on Saturday’s test against the clock and yesterday he had even more in hand by the time he crossed the finish line in Cong, Co. Mayo.
“It couldn’t have gone any better,” said O’Loughlin this morning.
Advertisement
“The goal going in was to win a gold medal and I thought my best chance would be in the time-trial so to win that and follow it up with gold in the road race was unbelievable.
“Last year I was runner-up in both and delighted with that because I wasn’t strong enough to win.
“But this year’s performances show I’ve gotten stronger and I was able to make the jump up and that’s good to see,” he added.
O’Loughlin, eighth in the World Championships last year was always the man to beat and his time of 31:05 was the fastest of the night, even quicker than Masters O40 champion Greg Swinand.
“The first 9k was very fast, especially on junior gearing and we’d a tailwind but once we swung left we had a headwind and I was able to push a big gear, keep my momentum and be as smooth as possible,” he said of his effort.
“I just felt super strong, especially coming to the line where I could hurt myself more and more. I knew I was on a good day.”
Winning that “took lots of pressure off", he said.
“I thought if my legs were as good again I knew I’d be up there with a fighting chance yesterday.”
That proved to be the case when he escaped in a group early on and was never back in the bunch again.
“I thought all the action would happen on the second lap but a break went from the gun with five in it,” he explained of how matters played out.
“Jake Gray (teammate) was between the break and bunch but when the bunch stalled I put in a big attack to go across to Jake and then on to the break.”
Related News
The group also contained Mark Bergin (Carrick Wheelers CC), Robert O’Leary (Cork Giant), Barry Talt (Murphy Surveyors Kilcullen CC), Conor Murphy (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk CC) and Stewart Thompson (Spires CC) with a lot of the bigger names missing it.
The break hit the climb on the first lap and O’Loughlin put in a bit of a dig and that forced a slight reshuffle with Bergin, Murphy, O’Leary and Gray remaining.
“The five of us worked well; everyone was inspired because they probably thought this was the fight for the medals.”
But the race took another twist when Sean Yelverton (Mego Racing Team) and Sean Moore (Barrow Wheelers) joined them about 10 kilometres before the climb on the second lap.
The bunch was around 1:30 in arrears when Simon Tuomey also joined those up front just before the climb on the second lap.
Sensing possible danger, O’Loughlin took flight.
“Once we hit that I went full-gas. The bunch were closing in but I went full-tilt over the top and down the descent. The legs felt good and I knew I was able for it.
The remainder of the break were caught by the bunch (of about 30 riders) and were only 40 seconds behind O’Loughlin.
But the Carrick man went into time-trial mode and stretched his lead to 1:30 again.
“I was happy going it alone,” he said.
“When I did attack I didn’t look around, I thought one or two might be stuck to me but I was going really well up the climb and the road suited me.
“I thought the break would start riding and close me down so I had to stay on it, but everyone started thinking of medals themselves so maybe they stalled a bit.
“It was great knowing I would win solo.
“Cong is a nice place, you come in over the bridge and there was a big crowd there, winning like that is the best feeling, there’s not as much pressure when it’s a bunch sprint!”
Topics
