Conor Dunne waits for a wheel change in the U23 Tour of Flanders on Saturday
Irish international Conor Dunne has said while he was generally happy with his ride in the U23 Tour of Flanders on Saturday, he would have liked to have held his place in the lead group up the final climb and finished off a strong team effort with a top 20 placing.
He was dropped from the lead group well inside the last 10kms and was one of only two Irish riders to finish the race, with first-year U23 Cormac Clarke putting in a very determined performance to also complete the course.
Dunne said the Irish team rode for him and he would have loved to have repaid that work with a better result.
“I was feeling good out there and stayed at the front in all the key sections,” he said.
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“The team were really great and supported me fantastically. Eoin (McCarthy) did a great turn keeping me out of trouble at the front and all the other boys were always around making sure I was ok, so I was really grateful for that.”
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“I was there in the front group of about 50 guys with 10km to go. Everyone in the group was pretty knackered and I was no different. But up that final climb, the Eikenberg, it got lined out and over the top we hit cross winds and the group split to pieces. I just gave it everything and ended up about 10 seconds off the front group when we hit the last cobbled section, Holleweg, with 6km to go.”
“I just didn't have the legs to close the gap. I ended up in 38th place. It was an epic race though, and I loved every second. I was a little disappointed to have not got up there in the top twenty but I was pretty satisfied to have given it a good shot, empty the tanks and come close.”
Dunne said he was proud to wear the Irish jersey alongside what was a new look U23 Irish team that also included: Ryan Mullen, Daniel Stewart, Conor McIlwaine, Eoin McCarthy and Cormac Clarke.
Saturday’s race was part of the U23 Nations Cup series, through which nations can score points towards qualifying riders for the World Road Race Championships in Florence in September.
The Irish riders will be in action again in the next race of the series in France on Wednesday at La Cote Picardie, before finishing up next Saturday in Holland at the ZLM Tour.
Dunne’s plans for the three races 12 months ago were completely derailed by a bad dose of food poisoning, but this time around he said his form is good and he would “keep fighting” to get a result in the coming week.
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