Having only come to cycling about five years ago, Conor Verbruggen’s name has been a constant in the road racing results in the last few years. But the Bray Wheeler enjoyed a breakthrough Easter by winning the Gorey Three Day.
The 29-year-old former triathlete decided to get his act together during the off season, and apply himself to his training a bit more. And what he lacked in expert racing knowledge and tactical experience he has simply picked up by watching pro cycling on TV and listening to podcasts. He has also learned by monitoring stronger riders in domestic races.
It sounds easy but Verbruggen – who only came to cycling because an injury meant he couldn’t run any more - has worked hard in recent months and makes the most of studying other riders.
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Not that he is overly serious. His first deed after sealing overall victory in the Gorey Three Day on Monday was to head home and take a bath with the yellow jersey on and while sipping a Duval beer from Belgium; where his grandfather came from and settled in Ireland after World War II.
“This year I made a concerted effort to say: ‘OK, what happens if I give it a kinda professional level in my training’,” he says of his decision to jump as hard as he could into training ahead of the 2022 campaign.
“I was out of work from the end of December to the middle of February and I put in three cycles of two 20-hour weeks, or close enough. Then I had a week of recovery, with 10 hours.”
Once that cycle was completed, he was forced to take a short period off due to falling ill, which was followed by an easy week just before the Gorey began last Saturday.
“I did the St Patrick's Day race, the Starsky CC race, and that was really informative,” he said. It afforded him the opportunity to see just how strong Loughlin Campion was, the Leinster Team rider who would emerged as his main rival in the fight for yellow at the weekend.
Having seen Campion’s attacks first hand on St Patrick’s Day, he was a marked man for the Gorey as far as Verbruggen was concerned. Indeed, the Bray Wheelers rider went on to use Campion’s strength – and that of his Leinster team mates – to his advantage on the crucial final stage in Gorey on Monday.
“I also knew (from the Starsky CC race) that I wasn't firing on all cylinders at that top end,” said Verbruggen. “So I learned from that. I did a bit more Vo2 max work and a bit more sprinting and eased back a bit on the volume. And that's just part of an ongoing process of really learning the training and it's been a very gradual performance (gain) for me.”
Verbruggen was part of the reduced peloton sprinting for victory on the opening stage of the Gorey last Saturday, won by Shane Coll of Jons Drogheda Wheelers. On the second stage he was among a large group that went clear after the early climbs. And when a three-man breakaway managed to surge ahead with about 20km to go, Verbruggen was present.
He made that move with Campion and Fergus Keogh of Moynalty CC. The trio managed to finish 23 seconds ahead of a chasing group, with the rest of the field further back; most of them minutes down.
Keogh won the stage in a three-up sprint and went into the yellow jersey. But he was equal on time with Verbruggen and Campion going into the final stage on Monday. Verbruggen said he decided to take a chance on the last stage; to sit back a little for most of the race.
Verbruggen explained the only attacks he followed – two in total – were those containing young Leinster rider Andrew Ryan as he was 4th overall, at just 23 seconds. Verbruggen rated Ryan to possibly get clear and make it all the way.
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“I knew I couldn't follow every attack and I also needed to lean on Fergus so he'd be tired because he's so strong and he really showed that on stage 2,” said Verbruggen of hanging back and forcing the yellow jersey to chase the attacks.
But when the final lap came, Verbruggen got himself up near the front and watched the danger men like a hawk. He spotted Campion speaking to some of his own team mates and also to eventual stage winner Ewan Warren (Unattached Munster).
Not long after those “chats”, Campion and a number of his team mates all sprinted off the front of the bunch at the same time. When Warren went with them, Verbruggen knew the moment had come. He moved with the train as it left the station rather than hesitating and having to chase.
“It was just 30 or 40 seconds flat out - out of the saddle,” he said. “I looked back and it was maybe 20 metres or so of a gap. I rolled through as quickly as I could because if I was sitting on it wouldn’t make sense for them (Leinster) to keep going. And I obviously wanted to keep going.”
In the end, the move contained just four; Verbruggen and Warren with Campion and his Leinster team mate James Delaney. Missing was yellow jersey Keogh. However, Verbruggen still had to either beat, or drop, Campion to take the final yellow jersey.
As the line approached, he opened the sprint from a long way out, determined to make it very hard in the hope that effort would pay off, which it did. Campion and Delaney were slightly distanced by Verbruggen and Warren in that push to the line. The two Leinster riders were caught on the line by the bunch.
While Ewan passed Verbruggen for stage victory, the duo were three seconds up at the finish, meaning the Bray man had done enough to win the race outright.
“I was pretty stunned,” said Verbruggen of winning. “I went there and I wanted to win the overall. And I thought I could, so it wasn't a complete shock. But I’d seen how strong the other guys were.
“When I was going into the last day 2nd overall I was very happy with that. I would have taken that at the start of that final stage to be honest. I didn't want to lose that position and I wasn't very aggressive on that last stage, I was probably even a bit cautious going into it.
“I benefited from Loughlin and his team being strong and me reading that and using it to my advantage. And I also benefited from not having the yellow jersey on the last day.
“Fergus was just completely marked because he had the jersey. You see that on TV…. I watch cycling religiously, I'm a complete nerd, and I learn as much as I can tactically because I've been late coming to cycling,” he said of studying tactics by watching the pros and listening to cycling podcasts.
“But I still didn't really realise how big of a disadvantage having the yellow jersey is, even in a non-professional race. It was absolutely massive, I couldn't believe it. I was almost invisible (on the last stage) just having a normal club jersey. But Loughlin and Fergus had the polka dots and the yellow so they were very noticeable. But that's racing. You need to have good legs but you need a bit of luck as well.”
