Seth Dunwoody has described himself as "over the moon" after bullying his way back into contention in the finale of his first big European stage race to emerge with a tidy set of results for his efforts.
He came away from the two-day Guido Reybrouck Classic (2.1) event in Belgium with 6th on the final stage, 7th overall and winner of the first-year junior classification. It was an impressive performance considering the standard of the field, with many of the best juniors riding on the European scene present in Belgium last weekend.
Perhaps the best sign from the weekend was Dunwoody's ability to get across to an established breakaway, with all the riders working - including the French and Australian champion and Belgian internationals. The five-man group was going clear in the closing kilometres of Sunday's stage as the pressure was really on. But the 16-year-old from Co Tyrone, riding for Cannibal-Victorious U19 Development Team, managed to blast across the gap solo.
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“It was fierce trying to close the gap,” Dunwoody said of the five riders getting clear in the last 20km of the 121.4km stage in Damme. “There was three AG2R Citroën U19 Team and two others, all rotating. And I was just dangling off the back of them trying to get across. It was brutal, slowly clawing my way back to them; very hard, mentally and physically.
When the six-rider group split in the final 5km, Dunwoody got caught out and in the end had to settle for 6th on the stage.
“I probably could have sat up and played my cards and bit more, but being in a big Belgian race with good riders around me, I just kinda wanted to ride and not risk too much so I kept the pressure on.”
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Most importantly, he had muscled his way in among the very best, from a starting pack of 150 riders. That big performance in the final came after he was forced to chase for 20km early in the race. He crashed just before the first of 15 cobbled sectors when a number of riders fell right ahead of him.
“It was either I ride over the guys in front of me or I went into the ditch to the left,” he said. “So I decided to head for the ditch. I ended up going feet first into the water, hoping it was shallow. But I ended up hip-deep in water at the side of the road. It had been raining all night so I ended up having a splash.
“The pace was on at the front and, with the winds, the bunch was strung out and the peloton was nearly a kilometre long. A split would happen at the back and so I was constantly on the back foot, all day. I never really saw the front until I came into the final laps,” he said of the four passages of circuit of just under 8km to finish on.
“I think having to chase on at the beginning of the race, it almost warms you up, it relieves a bit of nerves. And you’ve really nothing to lose once you get back on, so it gets you fired up. I know for me, that’s something I kind of enjoy; getting fired up by something that doesn’t go my way. I can turn that into some positive motivation to get me moving again.”
Dunwoody came home for the week on Monday and is back in Belgium next weekend for junior Gent-Wevelgem. He has been staying in a team house in Belgium – attached to the team manager’s home and within a close drive of Brussels airport.
“It has great facilities,” he said. “We have our own kitchen and stuff. It’s self sufficient, you do your own shopping and your own cooking. It’s some and go as you please, it’s nice to have.”
