Conor Dunne had one of his finest days on the bike yesterday when he infiltrated the break on the opening stage of the Tour of Britain and stayed out front for much of the race. The An Post-Chainreaction team man said he hops for more of the same for the rest of the week.
By Brian Canty
Conor Dunne said he was gutted to be caught so close to the line on yesterday’s opening stage of the Tour of Britain.
But by taking the sprints jersey and gaining his An Post-ChainReaction team some good exposure he said it was a superb day all round.
The Irish international told stickybottle he went into the race in good form and is keen to be as aggressive as he can for the remainder of the week.
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“I was happy with how the day went; the aim for the team was to make sure we had someone in the breakaway and then try to win one of the jersey competitions,” he reflected.
“So I was pleased to be able to wear the sprints jersey going into (Monday’s) stage.
“I’ve been feeling strong on the bike lately and I’ve had a decent block of racing and training leading into this so I’m definitely happy with the condition.”
With 25 kilometres to go on Sunday the four-man break had a minute gap to the bunch and with no more sprints or categorised climbs they felt they could stay away if they worked together.
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However, they were overhauled well inside the last 2km, with Elia Viviani of Team Sky taking the honours.
“I think we did a good job and made it hard for the teams behind to catch us,” said Dunne.
“It was a shame to be caught so close to the finish but I’m happy I could give it my best.
“I’m going to try to keep riding aggressively now and hopefully get some more opportunities.
“Yesterday was definitely one of the better days I've had on the bike so hopefully I can keep it going now and keep riding at the front.”
And while Dunne lost his sprints classification jersey on the road from Clithero to Colne, he looks to have the condition to make an impact in coming days.
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