Conor
Dunne is facing in his second career Grand Tour at Giro 2019, though the Irish
champion has been as busy away from the bike as he has one it of late.
The
27-year-old, now in his sixth season in the pro bunch, has just become a
father. Dunne’s partner, Stacey Kelly, gave birth to the couple’s first child
last week.
It
means while he is excited looking ahead to the Giro with Israel Cycling
Academy, leaving home for the race was harder this time around.
“I
became a father last Wednesday so it’s been an incredible week,” he said as he
set out from Dublin airport.
“I’ve
got a beautiful son, Jesse Daniel Dunne, and his incredible mother back home
doing great
“So it’s
been a really tough goodbye but it’s been a great week together to get to know
each other.
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“It was very hard to say goodbye but I’m looking forward to the Giro at the same time.”
Dunne
said he had known for a long time he was riding the Giro so had lots of time to
prepare.
“The
team’s been really good,” he said of Israel Cycling Academy; a squad he only
joined in the off season.
“I had
a really busy programme at the start of the year and then had time at home in
April to get the training in and get ready for the baby as well.
“I got
myself in really good shape. I think I’m in a good place. I freshened up this
week to get ready but the hard work has been done a few weeks ago.
“We’ve
to a strong team at this Giro, some strong riders in good condition and I’ll be
helping them out a lot.
“Also
I’ll be going for some opportunities myself; seeing how the race unfolds and
seeing what may present itself.”
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Dunne
carries the Irish champion’s jersey on his back going into the race having won
a great national championship road race in Sligo last July.
It
means Irish fans get to see the jersey on one of the sport’s biggest stages in
coming weeks.
And if
past performances are anything to go by, we should see the Irish livery up the
road at some point.
“I’ll
definitely get it my best,” Conor Dunne said of going on the attack, “for sure;
get the shamrocks up the road, it would be great.
“I’m
super proud to do it in the national jersey. It’s a really big honour. So
hopefully I can do it justice and give it a good go.”
Having
ridden the Vuelta two years ago with Aqua Blue Sport, Dunne knows what a Grand
Tour feels like.
Asked
what he expected from this Giro, he joked: “A lot of suffering. It will be a
tough three weeks for sure, no matter who you are. You can never really prepare
yourself for that.
“I’ll
just take each day as it comes; take confidence from my first Grand Tour and
try and learn from that experience; put it into practice this time and give it
a go.”
Looking further ahead than the Giro, Dunne said he would be back at the National Road Championships at the end of June in Derry.
“I’ll
be looking forward to it,” he said of his plans to return to the event that he
won last year.
“It
was a great moment for me, winning the champion’s jersey last year. And it
would be great to defend it again.
“I’ve
heard it’s a tough course. It’s always good to have a tough course at the
nationals, to make it as hard as possible.
“The
riders all make it hard anyway. It’s always such a hard race; just taking lumps
out of each other. You go so deep and you end up absolutely blitzed.”
For
now, though, he said he had the not so small matter of a Grand Tour to ride
before thinking of trying to win championship gold again.
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