1 week Ago By Andrew Ryan
PRIOR to February, Ronan Dunne’s most severe injury in downhill mountain biking was a fractured wrist in 2023.More of a minor inconvenience than a significant blow, the Red Bull Mondraker cyclist was back in the saddle a couple of weeks later.Ronan Dunne celebrates after coming fifth at the UCI Downhill World Cup in Loudenvielle in France in Spetember 2024Ronan Dunne performs during practice at Red Bull Hardline in Maydena Bike Park, Tasmania, AustraliaRonan Dunne at UCI Downhill World Cup in Loudenvielle, FranceThat was as bad as it got for the Enniskerry-native until this past February, when a more severe crash kept him out for seven weeks.
He was in the heat of practice for the Tasmania leg of the Red Bull Hardline – a race he won in 2024 – when he came off his bike.There to break his fall was a large boulder to the right side of the track, with which the 23-year-old collided back-first.He explained to SunSport: “I was grand and not too grand.
“I broke a few vertebrae in my back and my pelvis, my collarbone. I think I fractured a few ribs.”If you think a few broken ribs and a broken collarbone were going to stop him doing what he loves, guess again.
He insisted: “It wasn’t the best of experiences but it happens to everyone. It is part of the game. I’m sure there’ll be more.
“It’s just good I got it on video, I suppose. That was nice.”Dunne posted the video in question, captured from the perspective of a trackside spectator, to Instagram.
At around the same time, he had texted his mum and dad over WhatsApp to reassure them that he was okay. He added: “I posted the video straight after it. “I think I just got a pretty heavy shot of morphine so I was like, ‘ah, I’ll post this video, this is sick!'”That crash was but a speedbump for the Wicklow starlet who, after missing the chance at retaining his Tasmania title, will look to right that wrong when Red Bull Hardline returns to Wales this summer.
Dunne won both races in 2024, either side of a UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup victory in Poland that May.“I like horses but I don’t go near them. They scare me more than bikes.
They’re terrifying yolks!”They were three landmark achievements in a career that started in earnest when he was just 13, living at his family home in Enniskerry.Both he and his brother Anthony were avid cyclists, despite their mum Riceal trying to get them into pony-riding.They were surrounded by horses at their home in Ballyorney Farm, but it was to the nearby Djouce Mountain that Ronan would retreat.
He said: “I live just over in Enniskerry so it’s actually right at the foothills of the mountains, “I’ve always just loved bikes and it’s just great craic, really. I just love going downhill fast and it’s as simple as that. “I know a lot of other athletes have so much more behind it I just enjoy going downhill fast on my bike.
“It’s the only sport I’ve ever done. “In school I did rugby for a year, or not even a year, because it was a rugby school and I was shocking. “It’s the only thing I’ve been pretty good at, so I think I just stick to what I know.
”HUMBLE BEGINNINGSHis mum’s attempts to get him and his brother into pony club proved unsuccessful, but not just because of Ronan’s preference towards bikes.Ronan laughed: “Yeah, that didn’t last too long. “I like horses but I don’t go near them.
They scare me more than bikes. They’re terrifying yolks!”Competitive by nature, Dunne won a few Irish national titles as a junior mountain biker, but was limited by a relative lack of resources.While opponents in the UK and Europe have an abundance of bike parks and ski resorts at which to train, Dunne’s port of call was the Djouce or Glencullen Park.
But that was all he needed, insisting: “You don’t have to pack a car or pack a van to go ride. “You literally just cycle up the road and you’re where you work, so it’s pretty handy.”Ronan Dunne during seeding at Red Bull Hardline in Maydena Bike Park, Tasmania, AustraliaRonan turned elite in 2021 with Continental Nukeproof and spent two years with the team.
The pinnacle of this time was a second placed finish at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Snowshoe, USA in October 2023.He signed with Red Bull Mondraker in 2024, a step which corresponded with his landmark treble that same year.First was his Hardline win in Australia that February, followed by his first World Cup win in Poland in May.
And he followed that up with victory in Wales just a month later, while he finished fourth overall in the World Cup standings.He is keen on improving on that placing when the new season kicks off in Bielsko-Biała – the site of his first ever win – on May 16.And when Hardline returns to Wales in July, Dunne has his eyes on getting back what is his.
“[2024] was a dream year, really.“To win a World Cup is pretty savage. I kind of thought it would happen but not that early so it was pretty amazing.
“My aim is to be for a better overall in the World Cups. To try and get a top three would be amazing.“My fitness is coming back and even with the Hardline crashing, I was still happy on how my pace was before the crash.
“It’d be nice to come back for Hardline Wales. I will definitely be looking forward for that one as well and trying to get back that title.”Red Bull Hardline is taking place 26th & 27th July in Wales and can be streamed live on Red Bull TV.
