Cycling Reports

DAVID O'LOUGHLIN: The quiet man

By Gerard Cromwell (Oct 1) David O’Loughlin emerges from the dressing rooms of the Hilltown G.A.A club in County Down in much the same manner as he has emerged as one of Irelands hottest young cycling talents this year -calmly and with the minimum of fuss.

The 22 year-old native of the little village of Cong, County Mayo, has just won the Irish Under 23 Road Race Championships, defeating riders of the calibre of former World Junior Champion, Mark Scanlon and present Leinster Road Race and National Criterium Champion Paul Healion in the process. The blonde, tanned, fresh - faced O’Loughlin has been home from his base in Italy for a month now in order to prepare himself for a tough end of season schedule which will hopefully see him earn a professional contract for next year.

Having raced in Belgium with the DCM team last season, O’Loughlin moved to the crack Italian under 23 outfit, Zalf Fior, this year. Based in Castlefranco, Veneto, this family run team have churned out no less than three of the last four under 23 world champions and the latest junior world champion.

“I didn’t really like Belgium,” says O’Loughlin as he leans on the boundary wall of the gaelic football pitch, “but that was more to do with me having bad from than anything. I was recovering from a broken ankle and I didn’t have a good winter that year. Italy is a good place to race. I always felt that if you went to the European Championships or the World Championships, it was always Italian riders that were up there in the medals. It just seems to be the best place in the world to bring on amateurs at the moment.”

The Italian lifestyle seems to suit the lone foreigner in Zalf Fior, having had one of his best seasons thus far. “I live in a big house with the rest of the riders.” he says “Sometimes there are about twelve of us, sometimes there are only three or four, it’s sort of like little dorms, with maybe three or four beds in each room. In the basement they have garages where the bikes are kept and the mechanics work. The family who own the team own a hotel and a restaurant about fifty metres across the road and we all eat there for lunch and dinner. No shortage of pasta.” He laughs. “The town is a little bit busy, but in twenty minutes you have good training roads and in about an hour you are in the Dolomite mountains. I like to go up around there, it’s good once you get into the mountains. If we want to go on a long spin though, we have to go early in the morning because we have to back in the restaurant for lunch at one o’clock and then we go back again for dinner at eight. It’s a disaster. After lunch I just sit around watching Italian t.v with the subtitles on, trying to learn Italian. It’s been good recently having David McQuaid race with us, at least there’s someone to talk to!”

The weather in Italy was also a contributing factor to his move to Zalf Fior. “It was a bit cold when I first arrived in February, you needed lots of layers, but now it’s very good. You don’t get much rain at all and what’s strange over here is they don’t train in the rain. I’ve gone out a few times in the rain and the other guys think I’m crazy, they just take a day off if it rains!”

O'Loughlin has been consistently breaking into the top ten in Italy this year. He won the under 23 category in this year’s 9-day FBD Milk Ras at home, aswell as having held the leaders yellow jersey for two days and finishing fourth in the national road race championships in August. O’Loughlin’s climbing prowess shone through in the recent Bassano - Montegrappa under 23 World Cup race in Italy, which finished up a 27 kilometre mountain, where he finished an impressive ninth. “I’ve been going well in the longer, hillier races. The team give me a lot of freedom in those type of races and I was happy enough with my result in Montegrappa.”

With three second division professional squads (one each from Italy, Switzerland and England) keeping a close eye on him, the Cong King -as he was heralded by a national newspaper after his display in this years FBD Milk Ras – is hoping a strong end of season will clinch a deal with one of them. “I’m just making contact with the teams now and they’re starting to get to know me.” O’Loughlin is working closely with the National Coaching and Training Centre (NCTC) in Limerick in a bid to gain peak form for his end of season goals. “I’m working closely with NCTC and hoping for a good world’s. They have two sports scientists and a nutritionist working with me straight through to the World’s so it’s good. After the European’s I took a break, even though I’ve come home and won three races, I’ve hardly been training at all. I was sick in March, but since April I’ve been basically holding form ‘til the start of August so I’m taking a little dip and starting training now this week, proper training, which is going to be hard!”

‘Proper training’ for the Mayoman consists of “Two weeks solid of long hours on my own every day, using a heart monitor and then some motor paced training behind a motorbike that Sean Kelly lent me. Then I go to Japan with the Irish team for the Tour of Hokkaido because I need a stage race. I go straight from Japan back to Italy for a series of one-day races, ending with the amateur Tour of Lombardy, then I go to the World Championships in France in October.” When asked if he won the Tour of Lombardy would his pro contract be more forthcoming, he smiled. “If I won that, I wouldn’t be worrying about the world’s.”

It all seems a million miles away from the days when John Wayne was the big-shot in the little town of Cong, County Mayo, where he starred in the classic film The Quiet Man. “It’d be nice if people could think of cycling and not just the place where The Quiet Man was made when they think of Cong.” says O’Loughlin. Move over John, there’s a new gunslinger in town.