Dunne took victory in Belgium on Monday riding in his ‘Vl Technics – Abutriek’ colours
Irish U23 international Conor Dunne has taken his first elite win in Belgium and says he is now hopeful of selection for the U23 TT at the World Championships in Valkenberg next month.
Belgian-based Dunne (Vl Technics – Abutriek) took victory in a two-up sprint at the end of the ‘Elite Zonder Contract’ kermesse in Balegem.
“I got in the break of seven from the start,” he told stickybottle.
“I was feeling really good and in the last three laps put in a lot of attacks before finally going away with one other rider, Bjorn de Decker. He’s won a lot of races this season so I knew he’d be strong. It was a steep uphill finish and I just got the win by about 20cm, it was very close.”
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Dunne said his victory had given him a welcome boost after a difficult European Championships TT in Holland two weeks ago in which his seat post clamp broke and caused his seat post to come free, thus ending his race.
He had trained specifically for the TT for weeks and had travelled to the course to study it well in advance.
“It was probably the most gutted I’ve ever been in my life,” he said of the race-ending mechanical.
Ireland will have four rides in the U23 Worlds road race and two in the TT. Dunne said he was very hopeful he would get the nod for the TT.
“I'm already tailoring my training towards it in case I get the start. I feel I can really ride strongly there and with a bit of fire in the belly from Euros disappointment I would definitely not be going there just to ride for the experience.”
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