Kelly Murphy, Michael O’Loughlin take pursuit gold at National Champs

Orla Walsh keeps a close eye on Deirbhle Ivory in their battle for the Irish sprint title; Walsh winning from Ivory (Photo: Bryan Keane - Inpho)

National TT champion and international team pursuiter, Kelly Murphy, has taken the Irish elite women’s pursuit title while Michael O’Loughlin, a road race specialist and international road rider, has taken the men’s crown.

Also down for decision today on the first of two days of National Track Championships action at Sundrive Rd, Dublin, were the elite men’s and women’s sprint titles.

In those events it was East Tyrone’s Harvey Barnes who took the men’s title while former team pursuit international Orla Walsh claimed the women’s title, marking a very successful transition to sprinting for her.

In the men’s pursuit, O’Loughlin, a class rider who has competed for Ireland and formerly Le Col Wiggins on the road all over the world, set his stall out early in winning the qualifiers.

*Michael O'Loughlin switched to the track this weekend and came away with the Irish elite men's pursuit title (Photo: Bryan Keane - Inpho)*

*Harvey Barnes (in blue) and Eoin Mullen in the battle of the big guns for the elite men's sprint crown (Photo: Bryan Keane - Inpho)*

UC Nantes Atlantique man O'Loughlin was best in a time of 4.49.454, more than two seconds up on one of the best road riders on the domestic scene, Lindsay Watson; the Powerhouse Sport man clocking a time of 4.52.105.

Young up and coming rider Aaron Wade (Powerhouse Sport) was next on 4.53.285, followed by Cian Keogh (Spellman-Dublin Port) on 4.56.523.

That set up a gold-silver ride-off between O’Loughlin, the former junior and U23 Irish champion on the road, and Watson while Keogh and Wade would ride-off for bronze.

O’Loughlin was once again faster that Watson in the final - 4.47.914 against 4.52.116 – to take his first senior track title. In the bronze medal ride it could barely have been closer as Keogh just about beat Wade for bronze; 4.53.371 against 4.53.541.

In the women’s 3km pursuit qualifier, Murphy showed she had her racing legs and head on for the day with a national record time of 3.48.99.

Lara Gillespie (UCD Cycling Club) was next, on 3.52.80, followed by Mia Griffin (Un-Attached Leinster) on 3.58.046 and Autumn Collins (LVIV Cycling Team) on 4.08.785.

*Kelly Murphy in record-breaking form on her way to the elite women's pursuit title (Photo: Bryan Keane - Inpho)*

That set up a gold medal ride-off between Murphy and Gillespie and a bronze medal ride-off between Griffin and Collins.

Murphy went even faster in the final, lowering the record again, with a time of 3.47.452; winning the gold from silver medal rider Gillespie, who recorded a time of 3.52.052.

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In the race for bronze, Griffin came out on top, in a time of 3.50.963, with Collins unfortunately out of the medals on 4.15.360.

In the sprint races, Harvey Barnes (East Tyrone) and former top international rider Eoin Mullen (Sundrive Track Team) came through the early rounds to meet in the final.

Barnes got the upper hand in the first two sprints to win the gold from Mullen, who claimed silver.

James Glasgow, another East Tyrone man, and Callum O’Toole of Quanta Scott Orwell Wheelers met in the bronze medal ride-off with O'Toole taking the medal.

The women’s sprint finals went exactly the same way; Orla Walsh (Nopinz Symec Race Team) and Deirbhle Ivory (Weston Homes-Torelli-Assure) coming through the early rounds to meet in the gold-silver match.

As was the case in the men’s sprint final, Walsh won the first two sprints to take the gold medal, with Ivory ending up with silver.

And in the bronze medal ride-off it was Nikki Taggart (Arcane Cycling Team) and Lara Gillespie (UCD Cycling Club) who went head to head.

Gillespie won the first of the three sprints before Taggart came back at her to claim the second sprint. And in the third sprint to settle the bronze, it was Gillespie who took it.