Ireland's David Conroy battles through the rain and thick mud at the World Cyclocross Championships in Belgium (Photo: Toby Watson)
David Conroy has endured horrendous conditions at the World Cyclocross Championships in Belgium and avoided crashes to survive to the finish.
Riding his first Worlds, Conroy came home in 48th place of the 70-man field, a very solid performance considering his lack major championship experience.
The 17-year-old Wicklow man did well to avoid a pile-up on the opening 3km lap of eight on a technical circuit in Heusden–Zolder which was sodden and muddy after incessant rainfall.
“The start was mental; people going for gaps that weren’t there,” said the teenager.
“There was one big crash that I had to get off the bike to avoid. I raced two World Cups and even at them there was more order at the start.
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“The course is very different to what we race back home. I think most riders would opt for a mountain bike on some parts of the course here.”
However, while conditions were biblical for the junior men’s and U23 women’s races on Saturday, Conroy said that did not deter him.
“It was raining all night, and the course changed throughout the race,” he said.
“It suited me; it made it more technical and slowed the race down. The fast descents played to my strengths, it’s where I did most of my passing and made up placings.”
Conroy said the rain slowed down the racing and that he made up ground on the descents (Photo: Toby Watson)
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With his ride today ending something of a breakthrough cyclocross campaign for him, Conroy said he was enjoying his racing immensely.
“It’s a great experience; I love every race I do,” he said of the international events he has been travelling to more often.
“They motivate you and you get faster and get better at riding them the more that you do, there’s only positives in going to them.
“It’s great having my coach Andy (Layhe) here, and the support from Simon (Curry) and Donal (O’Brien) has been brilliant. They do everything I want and more.
“Today there was a huge Irish contingent here, some of that is due to the fact there are riders racing. The cheering from every corner of the track really lifted me.”
And with the cyclocross scene at home undergoing a boom at present, Conroy said he was hopeful the decision to select him and U23 rider David Montgomery for these Worlds could only add to the momentum already behind the discipline.
“It’s great to see it taking off, and great to see Cycling Ireland sending a team to (the Worlds) this year. It keeps pushing people.”
The experience Conroy collected during his recent international outings coupled with his dominant ride in winning the junior title at the National Cyclocross Championships earlier this month secured his seat on the plane to Belgium for this weekend.
In truth, he will need to race much more often abroad if he is to make an impression against the strongest nations in the sport.
But a finish at his first Worlds is a very solid foundation to take into the U23 ranks, and one that will go in his favour when teams are being considered for the Worlds again in the years ahead.
At U23 level, Conroy could now potentially ride four World Championships and continue to improve his already impressive firepower.
Jan 30th-31st: World Cyclocross Champs
Heusden–Zolder, Belgium
Sat, Jan 30th: Junior Men's Race
1 Jens Dekker (Netherlands) 0:43:05
2 Mickael Crispin (France) 0:00:35
3 Thomas Bonnet (France) 0:01:00
4 Kevin Kuhn (Switzerland) 0:01:17
5 Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain) 0:01:22
6 Jakob Dorigoni (Italy) 0:01:27
7 Jappe Jaspers (Belgium) 0:01:32
8 Ivan Feijoo Alberte (Spain) 0:01:34
9 Matthieu Legrand (France) 0:01:38
10 Niklas Markl (Germany) 0:01:39
11 Thymen Arensman (Netherlands) 0:01:51
12 Gage Hecht (United States Of America) 0:01:53
13 Mitch Groot (Netherlands) 0:02:00
14 Jan Gavenda (Czech Republic) 0:02:10
15 Marino Noordam (Netherlands) 0:02:12
16 Seppe Rombouts (Belgium) 0:02:15
17 Eric Brunner (United States Of America) 0:02:17
18 Tanguy Turgis (France) 0:02:19
19 Toon Vandebosch (Belgium) 0:02:21
20 Antonio Folcarelli (Italy) 0:02:22
48 David Conroy (Ireland) 0:04:32
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