Irish cyclist David McCann yesterday recorded his best performance yet as a professional when he finished 28th in the world ranking Tour of Cologne in Germany. The Irish road race champion sprinted home as part of a large group racing for sixth place, a mere 28 seconds behind race winner Gian-Matteo Fagnini of the Telecom squad.
McCann’s performance in this prestigious 1.3 ranked event is his most impressive since his ride in the Olympic games last September when he was 43rd, and shows that he is on the way back after recent ill-health hampered his professional debut. The Belfast cyclist will draw considerable encouragement from yesterday’s result, when he finished alongside many top riders including Olympic champion and 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich.
"Today was the first decent ride I’ve had this year," he stated after the race. "I had a tooth abscess in February and then got bronchitis but now I feel like I am back to full health. I felt a big change in training sensations this last week and had some valuable encouragement from PJ Nolan (the Irish Cycling Federation president) which helped a lot. I am coming around now, and should keep improving from this point onwards," he said.
McCann had previously expressed some concern that his run of ill health had seen him lose his place on the ‘A’ team of his CCC Mat squad. However, he was best of the Polish team in yesterday’s race and on form like that, looks set to convince them of his worth. Meanwhile, Irishwoman Geraldine Gill finished a fine sixth in the Finale Challenge du Frémur event in France. The race was won by Stéphanie Poilvet of the VC Dinan club.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
