Grim reality of top flight pro bike riding in four photos
A grimacing Conor Dunne is so shattered after a day on the attack in De Panne he needs help to get his jacket on.
Conor Dunne was so shattered at the end of stage 2 of Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde (2.HC) he needed help to put on a jacket to keep warm.
He'd gone on the attack in an early breakaway. An echelon containing some of the best riders in the world pulled clear from the peloton behind.
And when it caught what remained of Dunne's group up the road he survived all the way to the finish.
The Irish Aqua Blue Sport rider took 10th from the 20-man front group. And coming is it did in a UCI 2.HC ranked event, it was arguably the result and best ride of his career.
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Dunne has been around for a while now but he is still just 25-years-old. And his attacking riding this season and last suggests he's continuing to progress.
His finishing in the top group yesterday after 193km from Zottegem to Koksijde showed he can cut it with the best.
He began riding in Belgium five years ago with an amateur team and won a stage of the Rás in 2013.
Dunne then moved up to Continental level with An Post-Chainreaction in 2014. He remained with Sean Kelly's team for two seasons.
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Last year he joined British Continental team JLT Condor, winning the Rutland-Melton International Cicle Classic (1.2).
Made the step up
Having impressed on the attack, especially at the Tour of Britain, two years ago he was selected for the Worlds in Richmond.
And when the Irish-registered ProContinental team Aqua Blue Sport was set up over the winter he signed for it and hasn't looked back.
His ride yesterday was the latest in a series of breakaways in major races.
He took the climbers award in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and 2nd on a stage of the Herald Sun Tour in the first weeks of this season.
Conor Dunne is a great man to suffer, as these shots confirm. And the image below of the echelons across the road yesterday really drived home the positioning and power need to be at the front.
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