Dillon Corkery being taken off for hypothermia treatment after the freezing Cycleways Cup. His heart rate had plummeted so he was taken in a tinfoil blanket into the back of the race ambulance (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Irish elite criterium champion Dillon Corkery is on the mend after needing treatment for hypothermia in Navan yesterday.
Corkery was one of only seven finishers in the A1 race at the Cycleways Cup. He finished in 6th place, with the race won by Angus Fyffe (Caldwell Cycles Omagh).
Only the hardest and strongest completed the race on a day of very low temperatures, severe wind chill and snow.
Indeed, after the finish the cold had gotten deep into Corkery’s body. He was promptly wrapped in a tinfoil blanket and taken into the back of the race ambulance for observation.
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Despite having just finished a very hard race, some 115km on an undulating circuit, his heart rate remained stubbornly low.
And paramedics told him if it didn’t rise about 50bpm very quickly they would take him off to hospital for treatment.
Dillon Corkery being taken into the back of the ambulance; the paramedics quickly had him back on his feet and well done to them (Photo: SeanRowe)
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Always a strong rider and a great character, Corkery said he had special incentive to move quickly after the finish.
“I wasn’t long about warming up when they told me they wanted to cut my new Bioracer shorts off me that I’d just gotten that morning. So I said I’ll take them off; I’m not that cold,” he joked.
“It was a tough one, the cold just got to me when I couldn’t eat because my hands were so numb.”
Luckily he bounced back quickly and he was back on track and warm again after about 30 minutes.
When the Baltic conditions clear and Corkery gets some more racing under his belt in coming weeks he’ll have a better idea where his form is at.
However, he won some elite A1 races as a first year junior last season. His year was then capped with the Irish crit title.
He looks like a rider with much to look forward to this season, especially as his Bioracer UK-DHL-FR Services team is planning to ride some of the Premier Calendar races in Britain.
“I’m hoping to ride a few of the early season Nations Cup races with the Irish team,” he said of the U23 international series in Europe.
“But I’m also planning to ride as many prem calendars with my own team this year in England. I’d be hoping to come back again for the crit champs as it’s a favourite of mine.
“But mostly I want a good strong year with results that’ll see me set to go abroad full time next year.” Corkery said those who run his team had put in a big effort during the winter.
They had created a lot of opportunities for him and his team mates which he was very grateful for, he added.
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