Cyclist McDunphy hoping to produce a strong finish to the season

Conn McDunphy is gearing up for a big finish to the cycling season, which he hopes can lead to selection for the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, taking place in Montréal next month.

The Kilcock cyclist, who has been competing for APS Pro Cycling this year, will line out in the 2026 Volta a Portugal from August 5th-16th before then turning his attention to the Lloyds Tour of Britain which runs from September 2nd-6th.

McDunphy has enjoyed a great season with APS, emerging victorious from the 2026 Rás Tailteann, before serving up strong performances in another five-day stage race, The Tour of Beauce in Canada as well as the National Time Trial and Road Race Championships, where he carded fourth-place finishes in both.

He also lined out in Tour of Sibiu in Romania before engaging in more tough competition in the Basque Country ahead of his trip to Portugal next month.

Certainly McDunphy has good reason to believe he can produce a strong finish to the season having demonstrated that toughness and resolve in finally landing the Rás crown earlier this year, after finishing runner-up in the 2024 competition to Britain’s Dom Jackson, before suffering two heavy crashes that ruled him out of title contention the following year.

Ending those five days of racing with the yellow jersey was made all the more special by also playing his part in helping APS land the national/international team classification title and his team mate, Liam Flanagan secure two stage wins.

“The season's been going good,” McDunphy told The Kildare Nationalist. 

“After the Rás, we went straight to Canada where I was helping the team and we did quite well. We had a teammate in the yellow jersey.

“After that, I was agonisingly fourth in nationals in both the time trial and the road race. I’m still playing back in my mind how I could have won the road race.

“We came to the line, the four of us, and I came fourth, so obviously sprinting isn't my strong suit, but I certainly made it hard for them on the road with lots of attacks.

“After nationals, we went straight to Romania, where we competed in a really big race, four days in the mountains, helping our climbers there.

“I then got stuck into a big training block in preparation for some really big races, among them, a pro race in the Basque Country,” he said.

McDunphy did take part in last year’s Volta a Portugal, the country’s premier cycling contest which is now set for its 87th edition.

And the Kildare man admitted it was a huge challenge, remarking “I did that last year and it was very hard. It’s 11 days in Portugal, so I’m really looking forward to that, and hopefully I get a decent result there.

“After Portugal, I’ll have a little bit of time at home, maybe two weeks, and then we go to the Tour of Britain, so it's a really big end to the season and, honestly, probably the best calendar of any third division pro team.

“Hopefully I can pick up a few more results. The goal is to get another race win and then hopefully get selected for the World Championships, which would be great,” he said.

That would serve as a dream ending to the season for the Kilcock man who penned a one-year contract with APS earlier in the year, and even helped secure the addition of compatriot, Matthew Walls in their squad following a great year for the fellow Lucan Cycling Road Club member, who captured both the Junior Tour of Ireland and Volta Portugal Juniores titles in 2025.