He's had some knocks but the Irish champion Conor Dunne got himself up the road during the hardest World Championships for many years (All photos by Sean Rowe)
Conor Dunne on his attacking Innsbruck Worlds ride
Conor Dunne dusted himself down after his team collapsing and shrugged off the resulting lack of racing to make the breakaway at the World Championships today.
The popular breakaway specialist said the atmosphere was electric, adding the thrill of riding for Ireland never wanes.
Dunne last raced on August 24th, at the Great War Remembrance Race (1.1). While neither he nor his team mates knew it at the time, they would never compete as a team again.
Instead, their Aqua Blue Sport squad folded with no notice, ceasing operations immediately. That meant the riders were not able to take their places on the Tour of Britain start line.
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It was a major disappointment for the Irish champion, not least because he had just extended with Aqua Blue Sport for two years. And he now finds himself out of contract.
But he took on the Worlds in Innsbruck, Austria, in a now-familiar style; getting up the road early.
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Conor Dunne on the circuit in Innsbruck in the escape. And with the others on the Irish team. Left to right: Dunne, Ryan Mullen, Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin.
While Conor Dunne did not survive as far into the race as hoped, he said he really needed to compete after the drama of the last month.
“It's definitely the toughest worlds I’ve done for sure," Dunne said of a race in which he struck out early.
While he was jettisoned from the escape about 150km later and abandoned, he enjoyed it.
"I think the atmosphere was probably one of the best I’ve done. On that climb it was incredible. It was like doing an Alpe d’Huez every lap.
"I just wanted to finish the year on my own terms to be honest, to go out fighting. It’s been a tough month.
“But it’s just so nice to be out front and to get all the support and to soak up the atmosphere.”
Dunne said getting into the breakaway was difficult as there was a lot of competition to get up the road.
As a result, he went deep early to ensure he made the escape. And that effort so soon after the start, in such a long race, undermined his hopes to go much further in the race.
"It was a bit of a battle at the start and me and Ryan covered the moves together,” he said.
“So it just worked out we were both in there, to be honest. It was great to be up front with Ryan.
“I'm super proud to wear the jersey. I’ve represented Ireland for eight years now so every time it’s goose pimples.
“It was awesome to be out front in the jersey today to soak up all the support. It was really, really special."
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