 O’LOUGHLIN
LATEST IRISH STAR TO TURN PRO
By Gerard Cromwell (Jan 17)
Up until now, the tiny village of Cong, in County
Mayo has been synonymous with the film ‘The Quiet Man’. The fact that the
John Wayne / Maureen O’Hara flick was shot there is Cong’s biggest claim to
fame. That may be about to change.
David O’Loughlin, Irish Under 23 Road Race
Champion in 2000 and Cong native, has become the latest Irish cyclist to turn
professional this year, bringing the number of Irish pros to an all-time-high of
six.
The 23-year-old Mayoman joins Dubliner John Brady
and Cork’s James Hodnett on the new Ofoto - Lombardia Sports team, which will
be based in San Francisco this season. The strong Irish influence on the squad
is down to Corkman Hodnett who now lives in San Francisco and has raced with the
Lombardia Sports team, the top amateur team in the US, for the past four years.
“I’m really happy that David is joining us.” Hodnett said from his
American base. “I’ve seen him close up in the FBD Milk Ras over the past two
years and I’m a big fan of his. When Ofoto came on board and we knew we were
going professional I tried to get the team to sign him straight away.”
O’Loughlin has a proven pedigree, not only in the
FBD Milk Ras where he wore the yellow jersey for two days in 2000 before going
home with the Ben McKenna Trophy for the best Under 23 rider, but also on the
international stage. Having raced for the DCM amateur team in Belgium in 1999,
the blonde bombshell joined the crack Italian U23 squad, Zalf Fior, the
following year in a bid to earn a professional contract. Some good placings in
top Italian races, such as 9th in the Bassano-Montegrappa classic, which
finishes at the top of a 27-kilometre mountain and a fine 10th in the World U23
Time Trial Championships meant that O’Loughlin was courted by no less than
three pro squads.
 No
concrete offer ever materialised and the ‘Cong King’ as he was known during
last year’s Ras found himself riding in France this year. Illness and a knee
injury in 2001 saw O’Loughlin curtail his season after the Ras, where he still
managed to impress on various stages and finish in the top ten overall. “David
was totally wasted after the Ras this year.” says his father and manager
Brian. “He took two and a half months off the bike. It was his first break for
five or six years. He got the knee injury sorted out and recharged his
batteries.”
Having gone to Australia in September for some warm
weather training, O’Loughlin got the call from America. “James (Hodnett) was
instrumental in the whole thing.” says Brian. “He wanted David to sign and
helped in the negotiations. In fact David will be living in San Francisco with
James during the season. He has been signed for his stage race ability and the
team are hoping to ride the FBD Milk Ras this year with David as team leader.”
Currently doing regular “five to six hour spins”
in the heat of an Australian summer, O’Loughlin will be home in the middle of
February before meeting up with his new teammates on the 23rd. His first race in
the pro ranks will be the McClean Classic on the 2nd of March, followed by the
Sea Otter and Redlands stage races. Also ridng these races will be Waterford
professional Ciaran Power, now riding for the American Navigators team.
Speaking after his national championship win last
year, O’Loughlin said “Hopefully all the training and planning will pay off
and I get a pro contract, we’ll just have to wait and see. 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.”
Move over John, there’s a new gunslinger in town.
|