Conn McDunphy's big mileage hard winter since October paying off
Conn McDunphy took a very significant win at the Boyne GP. He is now targetting more domestic success in an effort to break his way into an Irish team (All photos: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Conn McDunphy secured a landmark win yesterday when he emerged victorious at the end of a tough edition of the Boyne GP, promoted by Drogheda Wheelers.
The second-year Mechanical Engineering student has been knocking on the door in recent weeks.
But yesterday he finally got the monkey off his back in winning an A1 race for the first time in his life.
The Lucan CRC man rode a great race and said he was thankful that somebody from the club took the honours.
And if it wasn’t him, it was probably going to be either Mark Reilly or Dermot Trulock who were both “trucking” and finished 2nd and 9th respectively.
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“I've been working really hard since late October,” said McDunphy.
“I've been doing a fair bit of mileage compared to what I've done before but it seems to be working. The power numbers are up so I can't complain.”
McDunphy is a former winner of the A3 event at the Laragh Classic. That win came in late 2015 and since then he is arider who has gone from strength to strength.
McDunphy was forcing the contest all afternoon and there were groups coming and going in the early stages.
Around the halfway mark the aforementioned Trulock and Aqua Blue rider Matteo Cigala escaped while the race broke up behind.
In a chase group was McDunphy and around a dozen others; a perfect situation for the eventual winner.
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“The lads got caught just over the start-finish the last time and the Ryan Reilly attacked and I went with him,” continued McDunphy of how the race unfolded.
“Then on the next kicker at about 10k to go just before the main road I jumped and didn't look back.”
It was a brave move to go so early but just shows how far McDunphy has come.
“It was grim but I knew if I got caught either Mark or Dermot would win as they were trucking.
"I just buried myself, put the head down and didnt get caught.”
A story we did on McDunphy back in 2015 which saw him celebrate too early. To be fair to the lad, he took it very, very well. We knew he wouldn't have to wait long to actually get a win of his own!
He crossed the line with time to spare and let the wave of emotion wash over him before a huge crowd saluted his achievement.
But McDunphy has no plans to sit on his laurels now as he targets some big upcoming events.
“My number one goal at the start of the season was get into an Irish jersey so I'll stick to that,” he continued.
“I'd love to ride an U23 Nations Cup event. I've still a few years left U23 so I'll take what I can get this year.
“To do that I will have to get a few big wins domestically considering some of the guys are getting good results abroad.
“With college I can't go abroad until the summer but ideally I'd love to try my hand at some races in France.
“They look class and I think they might suit me a bit more, although I've nothing planned as of yet.”
After the Kerry Group Ras Mumhan he is also eyeing the An Post Rás, though that will depend on what week his exams fall.
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