Conor Dunne attacks off the front of the peloton in Taipei before pulling clear and making it all the way to the finish.
Having ended the season last year with a fantastic ride at the Tour of Britain and following that up with a sterling World Championships for Ireland, Connor Dunne has hit out again.
No longer riding for An Post-Chainreaction, Dunne is riding just his second race with JLT Condor at the Tour of Taiwan (UCI 2.1) and infiltrated the breakaway that won the day.
The Irish international had to be content with 7th on the day after three riders in the 10-man move nudged clear to put 3 seconds into the others in the closing metres of the opening 82km Criterium around Taipei in the early hours of Sunday morning Irish time.
Advertisement
Australian Will Clarke (Drapac) took the stage in a three-up sprint from Colombian Carlos Eduardo Alzate of Unitedhealthcare and Alexander Ray, another Australian riding for Team Illuminate.
Will Clarke of Drapac, far right in red, takes the stage from Colombian Carlos Eduardo Alzate of Unitedhealthcare.
Related News
Some three seconds elapsed before Swiss rider Alexander Wetterhall (Tre Berg-Bianchi) took the sprint for 4th from the remainder of the escape.
And while Dunne’s 7th from the 10-man move was perhaps disappointing, the escape put 58 seconds into the main field, meaning the Irishman is in great shape for the remainder of the race.
Dunne’s ride comes after he was 84th in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in January in Australia; a country where Dunne wintered and appears to have wintered well.
His team will be hoping that he can maintain his form and make an impression on the final general classification over the next four days of racing; with climbing to be negotiated on the final two stages.
It's a race where Irish riders have done very well in the past; Stephen Gallagher winning the event outright in 2006 and three-time Olympian David McCann winning overall in 2010.
Both men were members of the Giant Asia Racing team when they filled the top step of the final podium four years apart.
Dunne, with the yellow and black helmet, in the winning escape on the opening stage of five in Taiwan.
Topics
