Army SSG Michael Gallagher Competes in First World Cup Event
26 Dec 05

An apparent misunderstanding led to a "DNF" (did not finish) result for Army SSG Michael Gallagher in his first World Cup cyclocross race in Hofstade Belgium on 26 Dec.

Gallagher raced 45 minutes of the hour-long event when he was lapped by World Champion, World Cup leader and eventual race winner, Sven Nys. Gallagher dropped out of the race, following the pre-race instructions he was given. "I was told that lapped riders must drop out and should not go through the start/finish again or the team would be penalized. So, when I was lapped, I stopped at the pits where there was a UCI official. I assumed I would be classified in the final results." As it turns out, 15 lapped riders were classified but Gallagher was listed as "DNF" (did not finish).

Misunderstandings aside, his first World Cup event was memorable and a great learning experience for Gallagher. "The event was absolutely the biggest cyclocross event I've been to. People were standing 3-5 deep in most sections of the course. The crowd was cheering so loud at the start that my ears were ringing."

Gallagher started in the last row -- 62 athletes representing 17 countries were on the start line. Gallagher started well and moved up to around 40th place. "I was super excited!" recounted Gallagher after the race, "I just chilled for a lap then started to move up the field. I was running and riding the sand pits like crazy! I've never ridden in beach sand for 50 foot sections. They were seriously energy-sapping. A lot of running was required as well."

Three laps into the race and someone crashed into Gallagher's rear wheel throwing him from his bike. "The crash messed up my rhythm and I couldn't get back to the group I was in. I felt good at World Cup pace for about 30 minutes. Overall, it was a great experience and I'm happy to have my first World Cup event behind me. I'm disappointed about the result. Although I was not going to get a top placing, it's always better to show a result rather than a DNF. Now, I'm just looking forward to Saturday." Gallagher is racing another World Cup event on Saturday, this time in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium.

See complete results at: http://www.uci.ch/modello.asp?1stlevelid=DD&level1=2&level2=0&idnews=3911