Conn McDunphy put in a great ride in France today when he was narrowly beaten for victory at the 152km Route Bretonne-Souvenir Loïc Le Flohic.
The elite national event saw McDunphy (23) emerge as one of the strongmen towards the end of the race as he pulled clear with Stylianos Farantakis (VC Pays de Loudéac).
At the uphill finish the leading pair were almost half a minute clear of the next man on the road, who had pushed clear of a four-man chasing group.
Farantakis, a 24-year-old who represented Greece in the elite road race at the Worlds in Yorkshire last September, got the better of McDunphy (CC Nogent Oise) in the dash to the line.
Michael O’Loughlin, who is riding in France this year with UC Nantes Atlantique, finished in 20th place in an 11-man chasing group some 1:17 down.
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“I thought
it was game over after about 50km as I
missed the break,” McDunphy told stickybottle. “But I managed to get
away in a chase group.
“They
weren't riding hard enough so I attacked
out of them and got to the second group on the road on my own so I knew the legs were good.
“On the
first of the finishing circuits (7.5km)
I attacked and bridged to the break. The Greek champion was away alone and I just couldn't shake him.”
McDunphy added he
tried repeatedly to jump away but was chased down hard every time and came to
the finish with the Greek rider.
“I knew he
was super fast in the sprint so I led out the sprint trying to leave it as late
as possible. I was hoping that
it'd be too late for him to respond but he was too quick.”
While frustrated not to win McDunphy said the race was a hard outing before the Tour de Normandie.
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