Conor Dunne had a Rás of two halves; winning the stage and first yellow jersey on the opening day but then fracturing his elbow in a crash later in the week (Photo: Adrian O'Connor - www.blackumbrellaphotography.com)
By Shane Stokes
Having crashed hard on stage five of the An Post Rás, stage one winner Conor Dunne was yesterday given final confirmation that he did indeed fracture his elbow. As a result he has said he is uncertain about whether he will be able to compete in the National Road Race Championships in Co Louth at the end of June.
Speaking to stickybottle, Dunne said while he was told the day of his crash that he may have sustained a fracture, a period of several days needed to pass in order to be certain of that due to the swelling in the area.
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He received confirmation yesterday and is now weighing up his plans.
“I had follow-up x-rays and they confirmed I've got a small fracture on the radius of my elbow,” he said.
“It’s pretty small though, and the doctors said it was OK to train on it and move it about. Just no racing for the next two to three weeks and I have to be careful with it!”
“I have kept the legs ticking over on the turbo each day so I'm hoping I won't lose too much form. I'm going to try getting out on the road in the next few days.”
Dunne grabbed victory on day one of the An Post Rás after he outsprinted British rider Michael Northey (Britain Node4 Giordana Racing) into Longford. The two had clipped away twenty kilometres from the line and reached the finish 23 seconds ahead of the main bunch.
Wearing the yellow jersey on stage two, he slipped back after repeated attacking by his rivals wore him down.
“I was isolated, the guys just attacked and everyone was looking at me to do the work. When I was on my own against a load of teams it was tough.”
Once out of the jersey, he continued to ride well.
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“I was really happy with how the race was going,” he said.
“I am obviously happy to get the win and I felt really strong on the other stages. I just didn’t get as much leeway as on the first day, I was marked a bit more.”
“I felt pretty good on the stage to Glengarrif, over the big climbs. I lost contact on the Healy Pass as I always kind of struggle on the longer, steeper climbs because of my size. We chased to get onto that group of ten, and were just about thirty seconds off the whole way in. I was feeling pretty good.”
Placed 22nd overall heading into stage five, his ambition of chasing another big result was dashed when he hit the deck approximately ten kilometres from the line. He lost over fourteen minutes and was a non-starter the following day, but the accident could have been worse.
“It was just after the last climb, we started descending and… I’m really not sure what happened, but one of the guys hit a hole. He went down straight away and before I knew it I was on top of him, flying through the air. It was that quick.”
“When I hit the ground it was like a big bang to the head, a broken helmet and I was seeing stars. I was getting purple vision, so I knew it was best to take my time getting up again. I knew I wasn’t going to get back up to the bunch. I felt okay riding in, just felt a bit stiff, but my elbow got a lot stiffer later. I went to the hospital and they said it was probably a fracture.”
Dunne said that in theory he could have continued in the race, but there was a big danger if he had come down again on the same area. In addition to that, he had problems fully extending his arm. He stayed around the race until the end, watching the action, and has since had that follow-up assessment.
“I am returning to Belgium on Monday and going to assess how my training goes from there and how the elbow copes with it. I can't fully extend my arm which is the main problem. I'm hoping to be present at Nationals but time will tell over the next couple weeks how good the form will be.”
“I will just have to see how it goes, I'd obviously love to be on the start line but I want to be careful at the same time and not jeopardize the rest of my season.”
Dunne’s An Post Rás performance put him on the radar of several teams, and has reinforced the interest squads such as An Post Chainreaction Sean Kelly have in him. It seems conceivable that he will get a trial with the team this summer, with the tall Irishman a logical candidate for a stagiaire slot.
His priority now is to do what he can to maintain his form while also helping his body to recover. Whether or not he rides the nationals, he knows that more opportunities lie ahead.
“There are plenty of races coming up. I would like to get another couple of wins. We will see. My confidence was boosted this week.”
