By Shane Stokes
Required this year to ride for Ben O’Connor in races such as the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, Eddie Dunbar has already had chances to go on the attack at La Vuelta, and will have more now that O'Connor has abandoned.
Moving next year to Q36.5 Procycling is a fresh start for the rider, but does in theory run the risk that he will be plunged back into another supporting role for the leader Tom Pidcock.
However according to the team’s head of performance Kurt Bogaerts, Dunbar will be more than a super domestique. He told stickybottle the Irishman had the quality and hunger to perform, and that he would get big chances, adding they could have a "healthy conversation" about the crashes that have held back Dunbar.
Advertisement
The Belgian, who is well known to Irish cycling as the former manager of the Sean Kelly team, and also of Irish national squads at the Worlds and other races, confirmed that Dunbar will have leadership too.
Bogaerts was asked by stickybottle if he sees Dunbar as perhaps leading the squad in the Giro or the Vuelta, and then backing up Pidcock in the Tour de France.
“I think it will be a combination,” he answered. “Eddie has shown already to be good in support of big leaders. And there was also a good relationship between Eddie and Tom in Ineos. So that was good."
Bogaerts continued: “But then at the same time, I think Eddie showed that he can win races and can perform himself. So the goal is that Eddie can do both. If we find the right program, the right mix, I think Eddie has qualities and hunger to try to perform for himself.
“I think it would be stupid if we wouldn't do that with him. That's also the reason we signed him.”
That reassurance is important: Dunbar was with Team Sky/Ineos Grenadiers for four years, and seldom got his own opportunity to shine. That requirement to repeatedly work for others held back his career, and also saw him repeatedly passed over for grand tour selection.
He moved to Jayco AlUla two and a half years ago and has proved a point since then.
“He won two stages in the Vuelta last year,” Bogaerts pointed out. “And when I was with him in Ineos, he won the Coppi Bartali and the Tour of Hungary. So I think winning and performing for himself definitely gives good energy to Eddie, and we can benefit as a team.
“Then at the same time, I hope there is a good mix between him and Tom, where they can sometimes support each other and benefit from each other's strengths. We know already that there was a good collaboration and good mutual respect between each other [at Ineos], and so I think that will work out well.”
Asked if it is the case that Pidcock might lead the team in the Tour and Dunbar gets that role in the Giro d’Italia or Vuelta a España, Bogaerts said that would be decided over time.
“With Tom, it is the first time that he's prepared now for a GC, now for Vuelta, and we will see what that brings. And as we know, it's always good to have more than one card for GC, because it's very difficult to get that right. A lot can happen during the race also. So I think it's definitely positive for that.”
A BIKE HANDLING BOOST?
One thing which has hampered Dunbar during his career is injury. He has suffered a number of big crashes and has been forced to take time away from the bike as a result.
Some of that is down to bad luck, while other times it has appeared that nervousness and bike handling may have been contributory factors.
With Pidcock regarded as one of the most skilled bike riders in the world, does Bogaerts think that Dunbar could work together with the Olympic MTB champion to boost his bike handling?
“As I learned from Sean Kelly, you need to open your eyes and you need to steal with the eyes,” Bogaerts said. “So when you have training camps together, I think it would be important to keep your eyes open and see what lines Tom is taking.
Related News
“But I think it's more than that. The relationship I have with Eddie, I can speak very direct with him. We can talk about difficult topics. Everyone knows that some crashes have held back his career.
“If we can avoid those falls and have a constructive conversation to try to handle this, then I think we're going to have a really good rider. I think the physical aspects of Eddie are very high.
"I wouldn't really always put it to skills, but crashing gives you a certain fear and maybe a certain stress, and that’s a topic we need to overcome. Then it isn’t a topic anymore.”
Dunbar still has the rest of the season to finish with Jayco AlUla. That said, riders changing teams customarily have one or more camps with the new squad prior to the end of the calendar year.
That will enable he and Bogaerts will be able to resume working together and to address areas such as this prior to any racing.
“It’s something that you need to put time in the off season and overcome this,” Bogaerts said. “To see what's going through his head when there is a crash happening in front of him. Does he panic, or does he fear going into a race when it's an hectic race? How can we deal with that?
“I think if you can have healthy conversation, and we have that already, then we know we need to work on that. We are both on the same page. I think it’s already a big step in the right direction that we both agree that we need to improve this.”
Still, Bogaerts stresses that it is important not to obsess on this particular topic. His goal is to help Dunbar to become an even better bike rider and so their work together will be across a number of different areas.
“We also don't need to make it bigger than it is,” he said.
“Some crashes are unfortunate, and there's not much escape from it. That's part of cycling. I think what is also part of it is that you need to accept it that crashing is a part of the sport that sometimes you can't do anything about. And then you need to accept it and move on.
“But, at the same time, yeah, there are some skills and some handling that we need to get right. And that's the goal.”
OTHER AREAS TO ENHANCE PROSPECTS
Dunbar is now 29 years of age. He has had flashes of brilliance which underline his potential, standout performances such as his seventh overall in the 2023 Giro d’Italia, and his two stage victories in last year’s Vuelta.
Bogaerts feels that he and the team can work with Dunbar to ensure a smoother run of things and to help him really realise what he is capable of.
“I think he showed some good flashes already. I think it's the hold ups [injury time after crashes – ed.] that we need to try to get out,” Bogaerts said.
“I think the way he won the Vuelta stages last year was well executed, the way he rode those finals. I think he stepped up in that. As a youth, he was sometimes very aggressive and not always directed on the final result.
“But if you see how he won twice on a high level with those stages in the Vuelta, that was well executed. That was definitely a rider that has maturity, someone who is not panicking in the final and who is doing the right steps.
“He also left Ineos as a good rider with two GC wins under his belt. I think he has made progress every year.”
Bogaerts envisages more progress being made during his two years with Q36.5 Pro Cycling. All going to plan, it will really help Dunbar to be the best rider he can possibly be and to fully deliver on that huge talent.
“We as a performance team definitely can support him quite well, on the coaching and on the support,” Bogaerts said.
“For example, there are a lot of topics now around heat acclimatisation and altitude training. I think we have the know how to really ensure Eddie is doing all the right efforts to get more out of himself.”
