Dundalk man Liam Dolan suffered a racing crash last Saturday. He lost two teeth and was left with some severe facial injuries but is starting the An Post Rás on Sunday.
By Brian Canty
Much has been said about the lengths the Irish county rider is willing to go to in order to be on the start-line for the An Post Rás.
But few have a story as impressive as Dundalk’s Liam Dolan for sheer resilience.
Ironically, the Cuchulainn CC man looked like he wasn’t going to find a team this year as his own club hadn’t committed to the race.
And with spaces at a premium his search went on for weeks, without prevail.
At the last minute, he managed to get into the iTap line-up and training had been going according to plan.
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He’s had a good year, finished top 20 in both the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan and the Tour of Ulster as well as riding strongly in the Visit Nenagh Classic.
He may be making stickybottle this time for the extent of his injuries, but Dolan is a serious athlete and former Irish IronMan record holder.
Last weekend he opted for the Tommy Girvan in Hillsborough instead of the Shay Elliott but that went pear-shaped for him when he punctured around the halfway point.
He managed to get a wheel and fought his way back into the bunch but the break had gone and he had no hope of getting across.
Dolan then down came down in a crash at the back of the bunch, his Garmin suggesting he was doing 60km per hour at the time.
"I had road rash on both my knees, my right shoulder, left elbow and I could feel something was up with my face," he said of the initial shock.
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“Nobody would give me a mirror (in hospital) and it wasn't until my wife made her way from Dundalk that I got a look at the rotten avocado that was my face.
“Basically it was a mess, I had bad road rash on my forehead, my cheek and my neck. I needed five stitches in my chin and three between my eyes.
“My upper lip was an absolute mess and they did a patch-up stitch job that night which was incredibly painful.
Liam Dolan, leading, has a massive pedigree as a triathlete behind him (Photo with thanks to Marian Lamb, UlsterCyclingNews.com)
“I was missing two front teeth and a further two more were chipped. The next morning I was told I’d have to go to the plastic surgeon to get my upper lip put back together.
“This was done in the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald. I was moved there on Sunday and went into surgery that night at 7pm.
“I came out at 11pm with a brace holding my front teeth together and my lip patched up.
“I got released the next morning and went straight to me dentist, who basically can't do anything until the mess clears up.
“I will definitely need two new teeth and possibly the two that got chipped will die.
“I got back on the turbo Tuesday, I rode outside on Wednesday and did the Cuchulainn CC league race on Thursday night.
“All went well so I’ll be lining up in Dublin Castle this Sunday. All going to plan I`ll be keeping a blog again this year at Thebikestation.ie
Liam Dolan lost two front teeth, chipped two more, sustained severe road rash all over his body and need five stitches on his chin to close a wound.
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