Conor Dunne in TT action at the Ronde van Oost Vlaanderen U23 stage race in Belgium which concluded on Sunday. He was second on the fifth and final road stage to finish second overall.
A silver medallist at the National U23 Time Trial Championships in Carlingford, Co Louth, in June, Conor Dunne has staked a claim to a place on the Irish team for the upcoming World Championships with arguably his strongest ride of the season in Belgium at the weekend.
Riding with his Belgian-based VL Technics–Abutriek team, Dunne claimed second overall in the Ronde van Oost Vlaanderen U23 race. He made his move for outright victory on the fifth and final stage on Sunday.
However, while he was part of a two-man move that made it all the way to the finish, his all-out riding during the 40km escape saw him climb the general standings into the runner-up slot, just missing overall victory by seven seconds.
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Because he rode flat out for time for most of the escape, he had nothing left at the finish and was forced to settle for second on the stage to go with his second overall.
“I decided to go for broke on the last stage; the race was the only U23 Belgium stage race of the year so it was quite well contested and a crazy bunch with some epic crashes,” he said.
“I was feeling good and I managed to get away with another guy about 40km from the finish. We got a gap of 1 minute and I just rode all out for GC. I felt I could take the overall win. I ended up just going all out in the last 10km but I came up short by seven seconds.”
“It was so close, it was a bit gutting. But I'm really happy to feel good again like I was in the Rás,” he said, referring to taking the opening stage and first yellow jersey of the Irish showpiece back in May before crashing out later in the race.
“Ever since I finished (the Rás) I've felt really up and down in terms of my form and the moral was starting to drop again. But I feel now I'm really starting to get good form to finish the rest of the season. So I'm really happy with that.”
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Though he was disappointed to fall short of the final yellow jersey by such a small margin, Dunne’s ride will put him firmly in the minds of the selectors picking the Irish team for the U23 time trial at the World Championships in Florence, Italy, in one month’s time.
With no Irish team qualified for the U23 road race this year, the two places on offer to Ireland in the race against the clock are all the U23 riders have to aim for.
Ryan Mullen, the IG Sigma Sport first year professional, took a silver medal at the European Junior TT Championships last year and also finished 9th in the time trial at the Worlds.
Having won the U23 TT crown at the National Championships this year, taken two bronze medals at the European U23 Track Championships and also posted some of the fastest times in Britain and Ireland against the clock in recent months, he seems a certainty to be picked for the Worlds U23 TT.
That would leave just one place on offer and the contest to fill it would appear to be between Dunne and Marcus Christie, the Northern Irish rider who has been on fire against the clock on home roads this season and last month won an U23 kermesse in Belgium on a brief racing stint there.
