McDunphy making a steady return after horror crash

McDunphy making a steady return after horror crash

By Caitlin Rundle

WHEN Conn McDunphy headed to France a week after his Irish Men’s National Time Trial Championship victory, what awaited him in the Alps was nothing he had expected.

As he headed over a hill with the rain starting to fall, he lost control of his bike, resulting in a crash that fractured his skull.

Conn McDunphy a2323 1

Lucan Cycling Road Club member Conn McDunphy is back cycling after his horror crash in France last year

“I actually don’t remember anything from the crash, which is kind of scary,” said the Lucan Cycling Road Club member and former Coláiste Cois Life, Lucan student.

“The part of my skull that I fractured, it’s the very bottom of the skull, so I’m lucky to be alive.”

McDunphy spent an intense winter rehabilitat-ing back home in Ireland, but once deemed healthy, he returned to France.

“I didn’t know if I’d be able to cycle again or not,” McDunphy said. “I only got the green light from the neurosurgeon on the 18th of January to race.

Once given the all clear, McDunphy leaned on his teammates in his cycling club, CC Nogent-sur-Oise. That support from his team arrived in more ways than one.

“My team manager, I stayed in his house for a week with his family, which is really, really lovely, otherwise I would’ve had to be alone in my apartment,”

“Obviously, I had a pretty big hospital bill after the crash. I was airlifted twice, then I was transferred from the Paris hospital, which is a five-hour ambulance journey.

“It cost a lot, but thankfully, the team was able to sort out that bill.”

After participating in a handful of races since his return to cycling so far, McDunphy said that he has not been nervous to return to road cycling. 

“I was really surprised I didn’t have that nervousness in my very first race,” he said.

“It almost felt like it was back to normal and given the current times, you don’t really have anything normal, but I felt like I was back in the bunch. It is somewhat normal.

“Lots of people are like, ‘are you not scared’, and I’m like, ‘I’m not scared because I don’t remember it’” he said.

McDunphy now has his sights set on the first round of the Coupe de France, a competition where all Division One cycling teams are invited.

At the end of the year, the teams with the lowest amount of points drop down to Division Two status.

Beyond being involved in the team races, McDunphy is also eyeing a time trial during the competition.

“In April there’s a big Coupe de France stage race as well, which I’d like to do as well, because there’s a nice 25 kilometer time trial,” McDunphy said.

“I’d be able to debut my Irish Championship jersey for the first time, so that would be great.”

By subscribing to The Echo you are supporting your local newspaper Click Here: Echo Online.

TAGS
Share This