| David O'Loughlin | |
| Fullname: | David O'Loughlin |
| Birth Date: | 1978 4, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | County Mayo, Ireland |
| Currentteam: | Retired |
| Discipline: | Road, Track (4k Individual Pursuit, Team Pursuit) |
| Role: | Rider |
| Amateuryears1: | 1998 |
| Amateurteam1: | – |
| Amateuryears2: | 1999 |
| Amateurteam2: | DCM-Belgium |
| Amateuryears3: | 2000–2001 |
| Amateurteam3: | Zalf Fior |
| Proyears1: | 2002–2003 |
| Proteam1: | Ofoto-Lombardi Sports |
| Proyears2: | 2004 |
| Proteam2: | Total cycling.com |
| Proyears3: | 2005–2007 |
| Proyears4: | 2008 |
| Proteam4: | Pezula Cycling Team |
| Proyears5: | 2009–10 |
| Proyears6: | 2011 |
| Majorwins: | Irish National Road Champion (2004, 2005, 2007) Irish National Time Trial Champion (2003, 2006) Irish National Criterium Champion (2006) |
David O'Loughlin (born 29 April 1978 in County Mayo, Ireland) is an Irish former professional cyclist, who rode at the World Championship (in both Road and Track disciplines) and Olympic levels, and won Ireland's first UCI World Cup Track medal. O'Loughlin also won the national road championship three times.
O'Loughlin turned professional in 2002 with Ofoto-Lombardi Sports for two seasons.
He won the Shay Elliot Memorial race[1] and then stage 6 of the FBD Insurance Rás.[2] He finished third in the Ras stage race as teammate to David McCann.
In June 2004, he became road champion of Ireland.[3]
In 2005 he joined fellow Irish professional Ciarán Power in the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team. He came second in the mountains classification in the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under. Later that year, he defended his Irish road title.
In 2006, he won the Irish time trial and broke the 4 km pursuit record. In 2007, he won back the Irish road champion's jersey, his 6th National Elite title. On 19 October 2007, O'Loughlin signed with a new Irish cycling team called Pezula cycling team.[4]
He set his first Irish 4k individual pursuit national record of 4:25.31 seconds at the December 2007 Beijing World Cup meet. In February 2008, he became the first Irish pursuit rider to make a UCI Track World Cup medal race when he posted fourth fastest time in the 4k individual pursuit qualifying session in Copenhagen. In the bronze medal ride-off, he lost to Luke Roberts.[5]
On 12 June 2008, O'Loughlin qualified in the 4 km pursuit at the Beijing Olympics.[6] In Beijing, he finished 11th with a poor heat time of 4:26.102. This meant that he did not qualify for the quarter-finals.
After signing for the An Post Sean Kelly professional team for the 2009 season, O'Loughlin won his and Ireland's first ever UCI Track World Cup medal when taking the 4 km Individual Pursuit bronze at the Beijing World Cup meet in January, defeating Volodomyr Diudia of the Ukraine in the bronze medal race-off. He followed this with a silver medal at the Copenhagen World Cup meet in Denmark, losing out to Taylor Phinney of the US in the final. These results helped to a final UCI World Ranking of 8th for the 2008/09 4 km Individual Pursuit season on 590 pts. He was also a member of the Irish team pursuit squad which set national records when finishing 7th and 5th at the Beijing and Ballerup events respectively.[7]
In October 2010, he announced his retirement from track racing to concentrate on road racing and his business interests.[8] However, according to The Mayo News newspaper, dissatisfaction with the Irish track management and set up influenced his decision to retire from track racing. O'Loughlin also denied that his business interest was part of his reason to retire from track racing.[9]
He returned to the competitive track action in 2011, when placing 14th in the European Points Race Championship, and then finishing 12th in the 4k IP at the 2011 Astana World Cup event.
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