Anyone studying the form of Irish rider Dillon Corkery in recent weeks can’t help but notice a serious improvement in his results. Though it is good news for the 26-year-old Corkman, it is tinged with some heavy reflection. They have been regrets.
For Corkery, his recent run of form – making the select groups in hard races and going all the way to the finish – is something he should always have been able to do. But he has told stickybottle a career-long problem with cramping has held him back. He has, since he started racing properly as a junior, been beset with the problem.
“I’ve cramped in 100 per cent of races over the last 10 years, no doubt. And you are talking about the National Championships last year (where he was 2nd to Darren Rafferty), the Worlds, Europeans, and cramping out of the front groups in a lot of these races,” explained.
But he believes he may have finally found a remedy, after years of specialists and tests. And he is reaping the benefits, even though he points out it has effectively cost him the career he would have, should have, had to this point.
“I felt I was always at this level and it’s almost upsetting now thinking about it,” he said. “I really feel I’ve missed the whole of my U23 and junior years. I’ve missed massive opportunities, massive. Even in something like the Worlds, I think there were days when I should have been there and I wasn’t because of the cramps.”
So what’s been the problem for the 2023 Rás Tailteann stage and overall winner, and what’s the new solution he has found?
In a nutshell, he says his entire digestive system has been hyper sensitive. He has, to a degree, suffered from reflux during racing. But his issues had been more associated with his small intestine/bowel; his body unable to process and retain the nutrients he has needed during races.
He has suffered from bloating and an overactive small intestine, meaning he has been unable to eat properly, hampering his nutrition during races and his recovery afterwards. The problems get especially acute from carbohydrates or anything with fructose.
In the early years he turned to his position on his bike to see if an unsuitable bike fit may be at the centre of his cramping woes. This was ruled out. He felt it was unlikely anyway, as he had always used professional bike fitters and his cramps would hit in any part of his legs, rather than in the same place repeatedly.
Next came a series of tests to determine if an electrolyte imbalance may be at the centre of his problems, though that too was ruled out. Beating a path to the door of many medical specialists, he underwent a colonoscopy and gastro examinations. Conditions that would impact the digestive system and bowel – including Chron’s disease – were tested for and ruled out.
He is currently in the process of undergoing tests to determine if he may had a leak, or similar fissure, in his intestine. While that process is underway, about a month ago he began using the supplement glutamine. It naturally occurs in the body; an amino acid that fortifies the digestive system and maximises the nutrients absorbed from food and drink.
Since he began using it, the cramps have stopped. Finally, Corkery has had a clear run at racing for the first time. Though this marks a big change, he is not counting his chickens just yet. He says more time is needed – and more medical tests – before he could be sure his cramps are behind him. But he is very hopeful.
“Most people don’t use glutamine because it doesn’t really do a whole lot,” he says of those who do not have digestive system issues. “But it does help my stomach and it helps digestion. Since I started taking it, my stomach seems to be functioning normally, as normal as everyone else. Before, I was just never at the capacity I knew I was capable of. But now, I feel like I belong again, that this is where I should be.”
Still, he says he has remained reluctant in recent races – where he has been at the front in the mix to win – to fuel to the extent he knows he should because. After years of problems, his fears about “ripping” his digestive system, especially from carbs, continue to linger. But, if his current run of cramp-free racing continues, he hopes those nagging doubts about whether he can trust his body will dissipate and he will be able to race with more confidence and freedom.
“I’ve always been at this level, but I’ve just been in the shadows for years because of these problems,” he said. “My family has really kept me going. I threw the head there about two years ago and I had packed it in.”
However, he said a combination of his family and his former sports director at CC Étupes, Melvin Rullière, convinced him to keep going. He also cites Cycling Ireland head coach Neill Delahaye as a very helpful and positive figure in his career during the hardest days.
Corkery then landed his first deal at Continental level, with St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93, and is currently in his second season with that team.
So far this year he has enjoyed a string of top 10 results in 1.1 and 1.Pro races; fresh enough to contest the bunch finishes in some, and strong enough in others to be part of the select group riding away from the field. And if he gets more practice being in those potentially race-winning positions, it is likely he will take bigger rewards in time.
He is hopeful his cramp-free run continues as his recent condition as only served to underline the opportunities foregone and how constantly “trying to manage” the fear of cramping changed the way he raced.
“It really limited my abilities, then the confidence takes a hit and you don’t race the way you’re capable of,” he said. “I’ve had to just play it slow, play it quiet, in races; to try and see if I’m still there in the final and, if I’m not cramping, maybe I’d be able to sprint. With sheer luck I might get to the last 100 metres. But then I’d definitely cramp in the sprint. I might be telling you in a few weeks I’m back to square one, who knows? But hopefully not.”
