Seth Dunwoody (Team Ireland) has emerged best in the 116-rider field on the TT stage at the Nations Cup Hungary stage race. It was the second UCI Junior Nations Cup win of the season after he also claimed a stage win, in a bunch sprint, at Course de la Paix Juniors (2.Ncup) in May.
And underlining the strength in depth in the Irish junior group at present, Team Ireland had two riders in the top 10 today on the final stage of the race un Hungary, with David Gaffney placing 8th, just days after a fantastic performance in France in UCI-ranked racing.
The performances of the Irish riders in the 3.5km TT in Nyíregyháza this evening, which concluded the three-stage race, also secured some very impressive final general classification results, while national champion Conor Murphy also put in a great performance in the TT today.
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Dunwoody was 2nd on yesterday's opening stage and 5th on the road stage this morning - which both ended in a bunch sprint. Those results, combined with his TT win this evening, meant he ran out runner-up overall; beaten only by stage 1 winner Hector Alvarez, who has dominated junior racing in Spain this year.
Dunwoody won today's TT by four seconds from Norway's Felix Ørn-Kristoff, a half brother of top international pro Alexander Kristoff. Spain's Alvarez was 3rd in the TT. He was also four seconds off the flying Dunwoody and so just about held on to win the race by two seconds from the Irishman; that time coming in sprint bonuses.
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Gaffney, who is now emerging as a serious proposition for Ireland, was just 12 seconds off Dunwoody in the TT; a fantastic performance by the first-year junior who will have the chance to return to these races again next year.
His TT result and also ensured he finished in the top 10 overall; placing 10th some 20 seconds down on overall winner Alvarez. To top off a great outing for the Irish, Team Ireland also won the team classification, from Norway and Spain.
Murphy, who won the national junior TT crown in Limerick in June, was 14th today, some 14 seconds down on Dunwoody. Murphy - national cyclocross champion the only Irish rider ever to finish top 10 in a UCI-ranked cyclocross race in Europe - is also a first-year junior. He and Gaffney should make a formidable duo next year.
Of the other Team Ireland riders today, Cal Tutty was 27th at 18 seconds, Max Fitzgerald was 34th at 19 seconds and Joseph Mullen was 74th at 25 seconds. All of the Irish riders finished in the bunch on this morning's stage 2a, some 86.3km starting and finishing in Ibrány.
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