O'Loughlin stages a brave bid

Cycling: Tour of IrelandIrishman David O'Loughlin went tantalisingly close to a stage win on the final day of the Tour of Ireland yesterday, finishing third on the concluding 147.7 kilometre leg from Athlone to Dublin.

Riding for the national team, the Mayo rider fought it out with two others in a dramatic finale. First to the line was Team LPR rider Marco Marcato, who outfoxed O'Loughlin and second-placed Thomas Berkhout (Rabobank) inside the final kilometre.

Overnight race leader Stijn Vandenbergh came home two minutes and 30 seconds back in ninth place, in the peloton alongside main rivals Marcus Ljungqvist (CSC) and Aaron Olson (T-Mobile) and thus preserving his advantage over both.

Given that final stages seldom effect a major change in the general classification, Vandenbergh's success was not unexpected after he had successfully defended his lead on Saturday's tough stage around Connemara.

What was surprising, though, was yesterday's finale. O'Loughlin, Marcato and Berkhout broke clear of the peloton after 62 kilometres and built a lead of five and a half minutes. They worked well and carried more than two and a half minutes of this on to the Merrion Square/Baggot Street finishing circuit, where they would do 10 2.4 kilometre laps.

While there was still a chance the bunch would claw them back, a miscalculation on the peloton's part meant the trio had enough time in hand to actually lap the main field. Once they did, the bunch had to back off and allow the break to fight it out for the win. This effectively ensured Vandenbergh would triumph.

O'Loughlin had experienced considerable bad luck on Saturday due to mechanical problems when he was in a promising final kilometres break on the stage to Galway. Edvald Boasson Hagen ultimately won the stage.

He was determined to try again yesterday but the Irish national champion's jersey on his shoulders meant the other two riders in the break were aware he was under pressure to take a home victory. Once Berkhout attacked, Marcato knew O'Loughlin would be forced to chase and he capitalised to set him up for victory.

"I am disappointed I didn't win," said O'Loughlin. "I missed out on the first day [ a break took a commanding lead and effectively settled the general classification] so I was just trying to be aggressive and get a stage win since then. I was very unlucky yesterday as I broke two spokes with less than eight kilometres to go."

Vandenbergh was himself very happy with the outcome. He won his first professional race on Wednesday; yesterday, he took his first stage race victory.

While Irish riders missed out on a stage win or high overall placing [ David McCann was best in 22nd overall], their aggressive performances are very encouraging for the future. Danish rider Glenn Bak's seventh overall is a plus, given he rides for the Irish Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group/M Donnelly Seán Kelly team. The Fáilte Ireland-backed race is also a big boost for Irish cycling.

Tour of Ireland: Final Placings

STAGE 5 (Athlone-Dublin): 1 M Marcato (Team LPR) 147.7km in 3 hrs 4 mins 20 secs (48.076 km/h); 2 T Berkhout (Rabobank Continental); 3 D O'Loughlin (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) at 8 secs; 4 B van Poppel (Rabobank Continental) at 2 mins 30 secs; 5 M Breschel (Team CSC); 6 F Rabon (T-Mobile Team). Other Irish: 12 P O'Brien (Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn/M Donnelly Sean Kelly) same time; 20 M Irvine (Irish National Team); 37 P Griffin (Irish National Team); 41 M Cassidy (Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn/M Donnelly Sean Kelly); 45 D Burke (Irish National Team); 48 S Gallagher (Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn/M Donnelly Sean Kelly); 53, D McCann (Colavita-Sutter Home); 63 I Speirs (Murphy and Gunn/ Newlyn/M Donnelly Sean Kelly); 64 B Keneally (Irish National Team) all same time. Final classification: 1 Stijn Vandenberg (Unibet.com) 21 hrs 20 mins 21 secs; 2 M Ljungqvist (Team CSC) at 20 secs; 3 A Olson (T-Mobile Team) at 21 secs; 4 W Sulzberger (South Australia.com- AIS) at 24 secs; 5 P Jacobs (Unibet.com) at 27 secs; 6 C Lewis (Team Slipstream) at 28 secs; 7 G Bak (Murphy and Gunn/ Newlyn/M Donnelly Sean Kelly) at 43 secs; 8 V Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance) at 2 mins 37 secs; 9 T Berkhout (Rabobank Continental) at 11 mins 3 secs; 10 Marcato at 12 mins 30 secs; 11 M Breschel (Team CSC) at 13 mins 12 secs; 12 E Boasson Hagen (Team Maxbo Bianchi) at 13 mins 20 secs; 13 B Eisel (T-Mobile Team) at 13 mins 28 secs; 14 B Bozic (Team L.P.R.) at 13 mins 34 secs; 15 D Lloyd (DFL- Cyclingnews-Litespeed) at 13 mins 43 secs. Irish: 22 McCann at 13 mins 45 secs; 29 O'Loughlin at 14 mins 31 secs; 35 Griffin at 15 mins 54 secs; 38 Cassidy both same time; 41 Keneally at 16 mins13 secs; 64 O'Brien at 41 mins 59 secs; 71 Gallagher at 42 mins; 72 Speirs same time; 77 Burke at 42 mins 35 secs; 79 M Irvin at 44 mins 2 secs