Ireland on the Track at the Olympics?

I haven’t posted on David O’Loughlin’s attempt to qualify for the Olympics in a while because, frankly, the news isn’t that good. The Irishman performed incredibly well at the 2008 Track World Championships in Manchester, coming 6th in the Individual Pursuit and absolutely shattering the Irish record he’d set the previous autumn. However, the UCI recently informed O’Loughlin that it was only taking to the Olympics the top 5 finishers from the Worlds. Argh! He missed out by one place…

David O'Loughlin in his Irish colours, riding the boards in Manchester. Photo by Stephen McMahon.

To put this disappointment in perspective, it should be noted that David only started racing track in 2006; before that he’d only raced road. Plus, there isn’t even a proper track for him to train on in Ireland; anyone seriously interested in track racing has to travel to Britain to train.

But all is not lost! David is the first reserve rider, and if any of the top five drop out, he will qualify and Ireland will have someone to cheer on at the track in Beijing.

David at Manchester again. Wouldn't it be great if Ireland had a proper velodrome? Photo by Stephen McMahon.

So, even with this disappointing news coming from the UCI, the Pezula Racing rider is 9th in the UCI World rankings in Individual Pursuit, he came 6th at the recent World Championships, and with luck he’ll represent Ireland at the Olympics this summer. Oh yeah, and he's Irish National Road Race Champion. Pretty incredible.

Plus, equally incredible, I found a Pezula Racing cycling cap in a bike shop in Chicago! Deadly! I had no idea Pezula even had any caps, but they do and Cycle Smithy has some for sale. Get one and support this great Irish professional cycling team.