Conor Dunne's back shows all the signs of hitting the deck very hard at the Tour of Korea, where he was forced to leave his bike behind in a rainforest after a crash. Original photograph by Angus Sung - Angussung.co.uk
By Brian Canty
If anyone thought professional bike racing was a glamorous way to make a living then one need only look at the injuries across Conor Dunne’s back to realise it is anything but.
The JLT-Condor Cycles man was riding stage 6 of the Tour of Korea earlier today, Friday, when he was one of a number of riders to crash on a fast descent.
“I remember having to make a split-second decision upon seeing a big concrete barrier and lots of green in front of me,” he said in his excellent blog on cyclist.co.uk.
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“I decided to aim for the green and from then on it turned into a bit of a surprise safari.”
He was catapulted into the rainforest over roadside barriers and assumed the tuck position.
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“Luck was on my side and I only hit small tree branches, which must have broken my fall.
“But it felt like I’d been tossed around in a washing machine, on the extra spin cycle, before I finally came to rest.
“The team radio crackled in my ear and I listened as the all clear was given, stating that none of our riders were involved in the crash.
“Fumbling for my radio beneath the shrubbery I’d accumulated on my person, I quickly called out: ‘No! Wait for me, I’m in the bushes’.”
However, unable to find his bike in the thick undergrowth he was force to leave it behind as he scrambled back to the roadside and got a spare bike from his team car.
The big man remounted and rode home in a small group of riders in a similarly sorry state. They shared cans of Coca-Cola and war stories.
And tomorrow, they will be knocking lumps out of each other again.
Dunne has had a fantastic 12 months; his second half of last season being rewarded with a place on the Irish elite men's team for the World Road Race Championships in September.
And this season - having switched from An Post-Chainreaction - he has continued his attacking form and took a fantastic win in April in the UCI-ranked Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic (1.2) in the UK.
He has already been up the road in Korea this week, being caught 1km from the finish after a day-long escape on stage 4.
- Read Conor Dunne's full blog on Cyclist.co.uk by following this link - it is well, well worth reading the full thing.
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