Irish rider Conor Dunne faces into unknown after team collapse
CONOR DUNNE should be preparing for one of the biggest races on his calendar this week, not looking for a job.
Two months after winning the Irish national championships, the self-styled ‘Green Giant’ had his professional career turned upside down on Monday when he opened his laptop in his Nice apartment to discover an email informing him that his Aqua Blue Sport team were to fold. Dunne (below) had agreed a deal with the team for 2019 but now faces a late scramble to get a ride for next year.
“I’m starting from scratch again at the end of the year,” says Dunne, as his 6ft 8ins frame begins to pick up the pieces. “It’s not a good position to be in. I’ve just got to hope what I’ve done over the past two years has been noticed and can get me a team. Let’s hope the
Irish jersey counts for something too.”
Hopes that Aqua
Blue would at least compete at the Tour of Britain, which starts on Sunday, were quickly dashed, as the house of cards came down abruptly.
“I think the main reason (they won’t start the race) is just to protect the salaries until the end of the year, to make sure there’s enough money left to pay everyone’s salaries,” he says.
“To make sure we can all get to the end of the year, because guys have got mortgages and bills to pay and kids, so that’s the priority.”
The team’s owner and founder Rick Delaney, the Monaco-based Corkman, has been criticised for the dramatic demise that has left the majority of the team’s riders in limbo for next season. Dunne doesn’t hold a grudge.
“Rick did his best for us and I don’t blame him, he tried his best for the riders to keep the team going. It’s unfair to put all the blame on to him because there’s more to it,” he says. “I don’t think they even knew it was going to fall that badly. I think it fell like a house of cards. It just shows how fragile the cycling world is really.”
He’s not sure what the future holds, but he’ll concentrate on preparing to ride the World Championships for Ireland next month and there’s talk of going back-packing with team-mate Larry Warbasse in the Alps after that. Whether he’ll be packing his bags next year remains to be seen. Less than a year ago, Dunne and his team-mates were making history at the Vuelta a Espana, but the Londonborn rider can’t bring himself to watch the racing now.
“I find it so hard to watch cycling when things are going bad,” Dunne admits, but he’ll ref lect on the last twoyears with positive memories. “We had something special, it’s just a shame it’s failed. Better to have failed than to have not tried at all. I’ll always look back on it with happy memories, you know.
“I tried to make the team a success too, being an Irish rider, I viewed the team as a perfect opportunity to further Irish cycling. It could have been such a good opportunity for Irish cycling.
“All the guys and staff, it was a real family atmosphere you know. It’s just such a shame it all had to end the way it did. ”