David Conroy has emerged in recent seasons as a quality rider. He would have loved the junior cyclocross title but felt he gave it his all for silver (Photo with thanks to Olivier Ansaldi. Homepage photo by Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Runner-up in yesterday’s junior race at the National Cyclocross championship, David Conroy said he could not be despondent about silver and admitted the best man won.
The Donnybrook Landscapes –Scott rider said he gave it his all and had no complaints about the outcome.
“I’m delighted with silver,” he offered at the finish line.
“Bar a few mistakes in the first two laps, I’ve no regrets.
"It was a bit hectic but I’ll take silver. I couldn’t do any more. I gave it my all.”
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Things could have been different for Conroy had he not crashed and required a bike change on lap two, however.
Conroy second in line in the very early stages. The leader is Gareth Hegarty who would take the junior bronze, with eventual winner James Curry in third place (Photo: Toby Watson)
“At the far end of the course it was really muddy," he explained.
"I hit a big puddle - deeper than I thought - and I went over the handlebars.
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“The mud clogged up the derailleur and I had to get a spare bike so that cost me some time.”
It also unnerved him slightly, which meant he was a little more cautious on the corners.
“I had a couple of slips before that from chasing hard and the crash messed me up a bit alright.
Conroy hits the deck in a spill that he said threw him mentally and cost him valuable time (Photo with thanks to Olivier Ansaldi)
“I was annoyed with the bike too; the gears slipped a bit.
“It turned into a giant game of cat and mouse after that crash, with James pulling ahead and me after him,” he said referring to winner James Curry of Banbridge CC.
“James does quite a bit of road work and on the big, long road he pulled away.
“He probably got 40 seconds to a minute of a gap on me. But by the time we came to the steps I was within 20 seconds.
“So I was gaining on him on the technical side of it but his power on the road saw him pull away."
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