Irish teenager Seth Dunwoody was having none of it as Belgian veteran Gianni Vermeersch tried to get physical with him in the final at Danilith Nokere Koerse
Seth Dunwoody may still be just 19-years-old, but he is now being regularly called up to the Bahrain Victorious World Tour team. And when it was time to get physical in the final of Danilith Nokere Koerse (1.Pro), Dunwoody wasn’t backing down.
He was busy at the front of the flying peloton with 5km to go, trying to disrupt the other teams as they chased down his team mate, Alec Segaert. The young Belgian was leading solo with 20 seconds in hand, having attacked with 18km to go.
When Belgian veteran Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) tried to intimidate Dunwoody, it was the Irish teenager who quickly got the better of him.
Vermeersch was initially trying to move Dunwoody out of 2nd position in the peloton, as Lotto led the chase, at the front of the bunch. The Irish-Belgian duo went shoulder to shoulder at high speed, though that barging was all within the rules it has to be said.
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The pair could also be seen exchanging words. And when Vermeersch - 5th in the recent Strade Bianche - then hit the front of the peloton, and put in a huge turn to ramp up the chase, Dunwoody doggedly remained second wheel.
Indeed, he deliberately let a gap open to Vermeersch, to disrupt the chase and take some speed out of it. As Vermeersch pressed on, he began to ride away from the peloton. And when he flicked his right elbow, looking for others to come through and do a turn, nobody responded.
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He then glanced back and, on seeing he had become detached from the bunch, he began waving around his left hand in frustration. It all punched a hole in the chase; exactly what Dunwoody was looking for.
Unfortunately, the incline to the finish line saw Segaert overhauled by the bunch just before the line. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) won the sprint for victory from Vermeersch's team mate, Jordi Meeus, and Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
After playing the perfect team mate, Dunwoody finished in 86th at 1:43. The only other Irishman in the race, Sam Bennett (Pinarello Q36.5), was returning to racing after a heart scare late last year.
While he was always going to be well down the field, he finished the event - 122nd at 5:11. Getting the full race in was important for him as he is now beginning the process of a comeback after a tricky setback.
But a major upside from the race was Dunwoody's ability to play a role in the final into the fifth hour of a 186.4km race. He was also well able for the physical battle, all of which bodes very well for his prospects of being protected sprinter in races like this in the next few years, or even months.
