Conn McDunphy has said he immediately felt he was on a
great day at the National TT Championships today and credited a change of coach
as a key reason for his victory.
The 23-year-old former Lucan CRC rider won the elite men’s
gold in a time of 26:29 over the 22.4km course in Knockaderry, Co Limerick.
That was two seconds faster that Nicolas Roche; the Team
Sunweb rider facing some stress just before the start when he suffered a rear
wheel mechanical. He was forced to change his disc wheel quickly to a training
wheel.
Completing the podium on the day was Lindsay Watson; the Powerhouse Sport rider taking the bronze 22 seconds down on the new champion McDunphy.
“I’m in shock to be honest, to beat one of Ireland’s best
ever cyclists is never an easy feat. Nico has won so many things so I am just
so happy with the ride,” McDunphy said of beating Roche for gold.
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“I felt I was on a good day. I wasn’t sure what to expect
initially when I came home from France and was on quarantine for 14 days.
“I haven’t raced in 20 days but when I was warming up on
the road I felt good and I got five kilometres in and, I know this sounds
cheesy, but I just smiled because I knew I was a good day.
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“On the way back it was really hard and I suffered a lot but I managed to get it all out,” he added of emptying the tank in the closing stages.
McDunphy also credit some changes to his training as being behind what was a career best performance achieved after some strong TT results in France of later where he has been riding with CC Nogent Oise.
“I think changing to my new coach Tommy Evans has been one
of the best, decisions I made,” he said.
“My training compared to lots of other people is actually
really easy but it works. Doing simple things right.
“I had the power on the screen but I was just looking at
speed,” he said of his approach to today’s test, promoted by Newcastle West
Wheelers.
“On the way back I knew I needed to keep the power over
450 watts in the last kilometre as it was up hill. It worked as I did my best
ever power.
“I am riding the road race on Saturday and then back out
to France to ride the last two races there then the season is over.”
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