Willem O'Connor (Velo Performance U23 Development) told stickybottle he was very happy with his 10th place overall at Volta a Portugal do Futuro, making the breakaway on two of the stages in the four-day U23 race and coming away with a best stage placing of 4th.
That ride in Portugal follows on from a very strong start to the season for the Cork teenager as he banked some top quality racing in Greece at the start of the campaign in UCI-ranked events. He then went on to 3rd overall at Dornan Rás Mumhan, where he was 2nd on two stages.
"I'm delighted, it was a really, really hard weekend," he said of his top 10 finish overall. "We only realised going home in the car that I'd made the top 10, so there was a bit of shouting going on. I was pretty happy with that."
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O'Connor said on the opening stage he got away in a breakaway after about 50km - of a 127km stage - and both her and team mate Toinne Vriezen - a Dutch riding guesting with the team - were in that move. Though it made it all the way, O'Connor managed to get clear of the breakaway, with one other rider, about 2km from the finish.
"We were just swallowed up with about 75 metres to go, so it was a bit….," said O'Connor of coming very close to holding on for either 1st or 2nd on the stage.
However, though they were caught, O'Connor still 4th on the day, won by João Martins (Rádio Popular-Paredes-Boavista), with Vriezen 9th, at 19 seconds, as the front group fractured on the uphill finish.
The second stage - some 124.8km from Águeda to São Pedro do Sul - involved a mountain top finish, with huge gaps opening; O'Connor finishing in 19th place. He was 4:55 down on winner Lucas Lopes (Rádio Popular-Paredes-Boavista).
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Conor Prendergast - who was aggressive and up the road several times through the stage race - was 38th on stage 3, at 10:59. Christopher Marshall was 67th at 27:52. Hugh Buller was unfortunately among a large group of non-finishers.
"The day after was the hardest day," O'Connor said of the 140.7km stage 3 to Figueiró dos Vinhos. "I spent 110km in the breakaway with my team mate. It was a brutal day, 3,000 metres of climbing. It rained the whole day and it was cold.
"We were attacking for the whole start of the race. And when we made the breakaway we were just rolling through all day; relentless. There was no control, everyone was attacking on the day."
O'Connor said the attacks began from the breakaway in the last 20km and he ended the day 10th, 1:51 down on stage winner Tiago Santos (Anicolor-Tien 21). Prendergast was 50th, at 17:30, and Marshall placed 53rd, at 18:17.
Dutch rider Vriezen rode for O'Connor in the breakaway in a bid to move him into the top 10 overall.
"The whole team really did a lot for me, there definitely would have been not top 10 in the overall without them. I owe them," said O'Connor of moving to 11th overall on the third stage, and then nudging one place higher before the race ended.
The final stage - some 153.5km to Leiria - ended in victory for Óscar Fuentes (Club Ciclista Padronés - Cortizo), who finished five seconds up on a group of 24 riders.
O'Connor was in that group, having been forced into a frantic chase when he double punctured with 15km to go. That saw the Irish rider end the race in 10th overall, some 3:33 down on stage 2 winner Lopes.
