Seth Dunwoody leads Bahrain Victorious team mate Alec Segaert during their recon for Paris-Roubaix (Photo: Malti Alessandro)
Back in the day, Irish rider Aidan Duff put up a good fight on the cobbles in U23 Paris-Roubaix, 18 years after Stephen Roche had won the espoirs edition in 1980. Since Duff's 8th place in 1998, a procession of Irishmen have raced U23 'Hell of the North' - Nicolas Roche, Andrew McQuaid, Ciaran Kelly, Sam Bennett, Jack Wilson, Ryan Mullen, Michael O'Loughlin, Mark Downey, Alexis Roche, Ben Walsh, Darren Rafferty, Dean Harvey and Adam Rafferty.
And now Dunwoody is the latest prospect; a very special one. He's probably the biggest cobbled classics hope Ireland has had since Sean Kelly. We don't know that for sure yet, it's still early days. But that's how it looks. He's definitely the best Irish sprinter since Bennett, no question.
Speaking to stickybottle from France on Thursday night, Dunwoody was his usual relaxed self. But this seems like a big week for him. He sounded more serious than he normally does, there were slightly fewer jokes. He wants a longterm, successful, relationship with this race, into the pro ranks. And he wants that to start with a bang on Sunday, two years after placing 12th in the junior version.
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Glenn and Seth Dunwoody in the early days while riding for Shelbourne Orchard, with the Banbridge CC mafia in the background
What would a good result be on Sunday?
"I think I'm here with the mindset that I want to win," he said. "I'm not here thinking I want to podium. I want to win, that's kind of it. But a result would be being up there on the podium, or a top five, a top ten.
"Coming out here and doing recons by myself isn't increasing my chances of winning. It's just boosting my confidence. And I think that's what it is for Roubaix, it's just about confidence and having good legs."
Father and son Roubaix recon
He's been in northern France since the start of the week, arriving with his father, Glenn, as a one-man support crew; two Armagh men brought there because of the son's powers on a bike. Since then, more of his Bahrain Victorious team - the pro squad and the U23 riders - have arrived, with staff and the usual convoy of support vehicles.
On Wednesday, Dunwoody went out with 22-year-old Belgian Alec Segaert, who has been on fire in recent weeks. They rode Trench of Arenberg; the most famed and feared 2.3km stretch in the sport of cycling.
Segaert will ride the pro race on Sunday, which takes in Arenberg. And while Dunwoody's U23 race bypasses it, he wanted to check it out anyway - for curiosity, research for the future. But mostly for the love of it.
Dunwoody and his father rented an apartment this week and junior went out on two recon rides on his own on Monday and Tuesday with his dad following as support. Then he went with Segaert on Wednesday, with the World Tour support behind.
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The Irish teenager said the rides were really useful to get acquainted with the cobbles and also experiment with tyre pressure, which he believes will be crucial for Sunday.
He hasn't punctured once, which he said gives him confidence they have gotten things right with the tyres. He added he simply doesn't know if riding the junior race two years ago will stand to him much on Sunday. But he'll find out soon enough.
"It'll just be a brutal race. I don't think there's any secret to winning it, or any crazy formula. It's just about whoever can have the best legs and a bit and luck on their side... they'll be the ones in for a good result."
But he feels "super good", adding he has had "very nice preparation" and has been fit and healthy since the start of the season.
"I've kinda raced every other race with this in the back of my mind - slowly building up, slowly building up. And the form has definitely been getting better which has given me good confidence."
Matt Hayman a decade ago
Asked why this race has become such a goal for him, Dunwoody explains it goes back to when he was about 10-years-old and how he got really interested in cycling, with his father's encouragement.
"With my dad, one of the first things that got me into this race was watching the GreenEdge 'Backstage Pass' videos. I've watched that Matthew Hayman YouTube video (below) a countless number of times. So that's what got the 10-year-old me hooked into Paris Roubaix. It's probably one of the first races I found out about, and kind of knew.
"So I've always loved it and then racing it as a junior just more or less certified that 'I love this race'. And as I've come up, my data has shown that this is a race for me. It's just based on absolute power.
"There's none of this watts-per-kilo carry on. It's just absolute raw power, which is my style of racing. It's just a whittling down process, the race just gets harder and harder and there's no let up. And that's good for me."
And what do those cobbles - the biggest and roughest of any bike race - feel like under the wheels?
"Ah, it's the real deal, it's the real deal. I've done two or three (cobbled races) so far this year. And I've been traveling pretty well over them in other races, like Nokere and Samyn. And that's what's helped get me so excited for Roubaix.
"But then you do your first recon here and you hit the first sector and you think 'shit, this is different gravy,'" he laughs. "I did Arenberg yesterday for the first time with Alec and, f**k, they're different stuff."
