National U23 time trial (TT) champion, Conor Dunne has said while he was hoping for more from his ride at the U23 TT World Championships in Valkenburg today, he is determined to work hard and improve more during his remaining years at U23.
Riding his first World Championships, Dunne said he enjoyed the experience but was nervous before the start.
“Yeah, I was feeling really nervous,” he told stickybottle.
“But it was more excited and looking forward to it nerves than the bad sort of nerves. I felt good; not fantastic, but good.”
He added the presence of two climbs – the Sibbergrube and the Cauberg – in the last portion of the course meant a measured approach to the ride was essential over the 36km.
Related News
“The plan was to not put myself too much into the red in the first 10km and then build into it; leaving enough in the legs to give the climbs everything I had. I think I maybe backed off a little too much but looking back on the file I was actually pretty even for the whole thing. I gave it everything I had, though. It was pretty easy to do that with the Irish jersey on, and all the crowds shouting you on. I heard a lot of Irish support out on the course.”
Advertisement
“The climbs were hard but I actually felt they were the best part of my race. The Cauberg was hard, very hard, but it was awesome; loads of crowds, just a wall of noise.”
Dunne finished 48th, 4:46.77 down.
“I was hoping for more, to be honest. But I'm not too disappointed. I still have two more years (at U23) to improve and work hard. I love this sport so much and I believe I can keep improving. The set up in the Irish camp is also fantastic; all the staff here have been great.”
Currently riding for ‘Vl Technics – Abutriek’ in Belgium, he has three weeks racing remaining and will finish his 2012 campaign with the U23 Paris Tours, a UCI 1.2 race.
“I still have some pretty cool races to look forward to. I still have no firm news for next season yet but I want to stay in Belgium.”
Topics
