McDunphy gearing up for big year ahead with APS Pro Cycling

Kilcock cyclist, Conn McDunphy is looking forward to a busy season of international racing with his new team, APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery.

Penning a one-year contract with the US-based squad, McDunphy lined out for APS in the recent Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain, going up against some of the top riders on the planet, including World and Olympic champion, Remco Evenepoel who landed the title.

McDunphy gave a very strong account of himself throughout the five-day stage race, particularly in the closing stage in which he figured among the breakaway for some time.

And while he did eventually drop off, to be swallowed by the remains of the peloton, the 29-year-old competitor who finished 64th, insists he has the potential to make a serious push in competitions such as these, given increased exposure to that level of competition.

“We were racing against the Olympic champions in Remco, against world champions, so it was really high level,” McDunphy told The Kildare Nationalist.

“I felt like I was competing at a very good level, holding my own, and on the last day in Valenciana I was in the breakaway.

“The breakaway stayed away and, ultimately I didn't, but even just to get in a breakaway at that level, you have to have legs, so that was nice.

“It’s one of those races where I feel like I have the level. It's just one of those things, where if you do them more often, you can get used to them, and then after the second, third, fourth time, you can start to compete for the win.

“I joined a new team, APS this year and they secured an invite to the race. It's high level, but we've seen lots of Irish riders, whom I've raced against for years in nationals, and who have excelled and still continue to excel against these riders, and I don't see why I can't be one of them,” he said.

McDunphy is pleased with the set-up that APS Pro Racing have provided, and he even managed to help secure the inclusion of compatriot, Matthew Walls in their line-up following a great year for the fellow Lucan Cycling Road Club member, who landed both the Junior Tour of Ireland and Volta Portugal Juniores titles in 2025.

For McDunphy, the rider-centred approach to racing that APS emphasise has been one of the big attractions to this squad and a stance that he believes will help him and his team mates flourish this year.

“It's a new team with two team owners” he explained. “One is a data-driven performance coach and the other is a businessman, and they've been frustrated at how, with third division teams, often the athlete gets lost and it's all based off what the team manager wants. But the athlete is the reason why the team exists.

“They actually have a really great motto that they work off. The name of the team is made up of three words, ‘Atleta Prima Sempre’ [APS], which mean ‘athlete first, always’, and that's what drives the team.

“With every decision, they always go back to that motto, which is kind of nice. It's just more professional than a lot of teams that I’ve have been in the past few years. They’re really trying their best. I'm happy, and that’s half the battle.

“It’s really been a nice environment and I managed to get young Matthew Walls on the team too, so he signed his first professional contract this year as well.

“Everyone on the team just signed a one-year contract because the team is new and they were getting everything together.

“As it stands, I wouldn't be opposed to signing for another year with them, but we’ll see how the season plays out,” he said.

McDunphy was coming into the Volta Valenciana off the back of his 29th-place finish in the Al Salam Championship in Dubai in January.

And the Kildare man will soon be turning his attention to his first ever outing in Turkey when he lines out for APS in the Tour of Antalya, another big stage race starting on Thursday 12 March.

That will be followed by a one-month block of racing in the US, starting at the end of March, before the team returns to competition in Europe.

McDunphy, a runner-up in the 2024 Rás Tailteann and a former National Time Trial champion, has a number of targets in his crosshairs, both at home in Ireland and abroad, telling The Nationalist, “I'd love to win the Irish National Road Race.

“I won the time trial in 2020 and I've been on the podium in the road race. It would be a big task to try and pull that one off, but on the right day, why not?

“I’d also like to be on the podium of a .1 UCI race, which is quite a big task as well, but, as they say, shoot for the stars and you’ll hit the moon,” he said.