While Conn McDunphy faced the major set-back of his UCI Continental team, EvoPro Racing, ceasing operations at the end of last season, that hasn't stopped the Irish rider creating pro racing opportunities for himself
Having raised the money to go to the United States, where he secured a guest spot on a team, the 26-year-old has been making the most of that chance with a series of very strong results, including a win. McDunphy is currently riding Tour of the Gila (2.2), the race where Philip Deignan got his career very much back on track with overall victory in 2013.
Riding for SoCalCycling.com Team, McDunphy was 9th on yesterday's stage 2, just one place ahead of Óscar Sevilla, the former Vuelta runner-up who is now aged 46 years and still racing with Team Medellín-EPM. Yesterday's stage was a short but very challenging race - some 120km starting and finishing in Fort Bayard, New Mexico. The undulating stage, including a categorised climb close to the finish and very rolling roads after that, saw the main field trimmed back to just 60 riders.
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Earlier in the day a crash had forced the neutralisation of the stage for a time, with stage 1 winner and race leader Miguel Ángel López (Team Medellín-EPM) one of the riders forced out of the race due to that crash. The finish came down to a sprint from the reduced peloton, with the stage won by former Mexican road and TT champion, Ignacio de Jesús Prado (Canel's Zerouno).
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The opening stage of the race on Wednesday - some 148km from Silver City to Mogollon Ghost Town - ended with a summit finish atop a 4.3km climb, with an average gradient of 8.6 per cent. López - in the wilderness after losing his place with Astana last season - won the stage solo by almost a minute as the field split to pieces. McDunphy put in a solid ride to place 28th, 3:39 down.
The race continues today, Friday, with a 26km TT starting and finishing in Tyrone. It will offer McDunphy, a former Irish elite TT champion, an opportunity to measure himself against international opposition against the clock.
Just before Tour of the Gila, McDunphy was 5th in the Sea Otter Classic last Friday. The race was won by Tyler Williams, who led in a 1-2-3 for his L39ION of Los Angeles squad - the dominant US Continental team.
McDunphy was also 4th on the opening stage of the Redlands Bicycle Classic a couple of weeks ago and opened his US racing stint with victory in San Luis Road Race in San Diego, California, which also doubled as the California State Championships.
