CYCLING:David O'Loughlin finished 90th in the bunch sprint that decided the third stage of the Niedersachsen Rundfahrt in Germany yesterday, reports Shane Stokes.

The Irishman was classified in the same time as the stage winner, Gerald Ciolek of the T-Mobile team.

The 20-year-old German beat his compatriot Erik Zabel (Team Milram) and Graeme Brown (Rabobank) to the finish line.

The winner of stages one and two, Alessandro Petacchi, finished fourth and retained the race lead after having led out the sprint for his team-mate Zabel.

O'Loughlin lies 88th overall after three stages. He has finished in the same time as Petacchi on each of the stages but is 20 seconds back after calculation of time bonuses.

The 2.1-ranked race continues today with a 199.7 kilometre stage from Rheda-Wiedenbrück to Duderstadt and ends tomorrow.