Conn McDunphy has won the biggest one-day races in Ireland this year and is now bullish about his chances on the remaining three stages of Rás Tailteann 2026 (Photo: Toby Watson)
By Shane Stokes
Two years ago Conn McDunphy had what was both an exhilarating and a frustrating experience at the Rás Tailteann. He won stage 2 into Sneem, beating Liam O’Brien (Ireland) to do so, but ended the race exactly level on time with the overall winner Dom Jackson.
As he admitted afterwards, tactical play on the road to Sneem likely cost him several seconds, leading to a big ‘what if?’ consideration in terms of the final GC.
That very near miss is something that drives him on at the race, and will spur him on in the days ahead. He was part of the key six man escape in the finale of stage 2.
McDunphy ended up third behind Tim Shoreman (UK: Wheelbase Cabtech Castelli) and Willem O’Connor (Cork: O’Leary Stone Kanturk) in the gallop to the line in Banteer.
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Importantly, his USA: APS Pro Cycling teammate Adam Lewis took over the yellow jersey.
“I was actually getting a bit worried with about 60ks to go,” he told Stickybottle, talking about the pattern of racing. “The yellow was up the road.
"We were getting different time gaps so we weren’t sure how far up the road he was. Then we got to the third cat climb with the hairpins and stuff and it got pretty hard there.
“Foran were doing a lot of riding, and we had Liam and Cian [teammates Liam Flanagan and Cian Keogh] riding really hard on the front to try to pull the gap back a bit.
“I have been down here a good bit with a friend of mine so I knew that the roads were proper hard up to Nad and with the third cat, so I attacked with Willem O’Connor on the road into Nad. We split the race and there was 12 of us.
“Adam was there, we caught Daragh who was there. A good strong group. Coming into the line with about 7k to go there was a bit of a kicker I went from the back, because we didn’t want to bring everyone to the line. It worked out well.
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“Shoreman followed me. He is the fastest sprinter here so there was only ever going to be one winner. But we did what we could. I came third, Adam into yellow. It’s not a bad day.”
McDunphy made his Rás debut back in 2017 and has ridden it several times since. That second overall in 2024 is his best showing, with some other editions hit by falls.
“I always say about the Rás that if I don’t crash I do well. I have got a certain liking to the tarmacadam here for some reason,” he said. “We will see. There is a lot of road between now and Dunboyne and I know every single stretch of it. So we will see how we go.”
Providing that goal of staying safe is a successful one, he will hope to be in contention heading into the big showdown in the Wicklow Mountains on Saturday.
It’s going to be a very tough day in the saddle, not least because of the two first category ascents, but he is well aware of what is required.
“I train there every second day. I know every pebble on the road,” he said. “Look, if I don’t have the legs that day, I don’t have the legs. It is not for want of knowing the roads, not for want of trying. So we will see.”
And, given that local knowledge, he could do some serious damage if he is on a good day.
“Exactly,” he said, when this was suggested to him. “And look, there is no pressure on me. We have Adam in yellow, we have got a strong team.
“Obviously I would like to win it myself but with the yellow jersey in the team now it kind of changes things a little bit.”
Tactics remained to be decided but with two cards to play, the APS team is in a good position.
Still, the race is a very unpredictable one and getting things right tactically will be crucial to their chances.
“We will have to have a meeting tonight and see how we want to play it,” he said. "With only five riders it is a very hard race to control. We will see.”
