On Friday O'Loughlin finished a creditable eight in the pursuit in a world cup track event, and yesterday in the scratch race he gave his counterparts a fright when he made a brave attempt to win the scratch race with a solo foray out front in the packed Velodrome in the Russian capital. The Mayo man was only caught on the penultimate lap.

His manager, Ed Beamon has confirmed that the cyclist will now be concentrating on the road in America because of the upsurge in the cycling calendar there.