By Shane Stokes
As the days pass after Eddie Dunbar’s superb seventh place finish in the Giro d’Italia, his coach has described the importance of that result for his overall career, saying that it will bring important benefits and should be a catalyst for even bigger performances in the future.
“Fundamentally, I think it is a pivotal step in his progression, for his own belief in what he is capable of, and in racing toe to toe with the biggest, most successful riders in our current generation,” Dunbar’s coach Alex Camier told stickybottle.
“It was good for him to be up there and mixing it with those guys and to gain that confidence and belief in what he is capable of.”
Dunbar rode strongly throughout the race, placing fourth on a stage, taking three other top ten finishes and sitting as high as fourth overall inside the final week. He eventually finished seventh in GC, the highest Irish Giro finish since Stephen Roche won the race in 1987.
Advertisement
Those achievements came despite Dunbar fracturing his hand in his first race of the season and being out of competition for two whole months as a result. Camier believes that this disruption also underlines the level of his achievement.
“There is encouragement there [that he did this] without the perfect run in. He had obviously the injury and some setback there,” he said. “It is encouraging to think that we have some areas to improve on, and to see where we can get to next time out.”
The Giro was only the second Grand Tour of Dunbar’s career, and his first as a protected rider. He moved to Jayco-AlUla over the winter after four years as a domestique with Team Sky/Ineos Grenadiers in order to pursue greater personal opportunities. Camier believes that he has embraced his new position.
“He handled himself very well throughout the three weeks. He rode like a true leader,” he said. “He took that role and responsibility on really well. The team rallied around him and he was grateful for their support within the race. He showed a real good character for the job that he was there trying to do, and he impressed a lot of people.”
"A deeper level of insight"
Related News
What’s most important about Dunbar’s Giro is that the result should be a stepping stone to even bigger things in the future. The Corkman is scheduled to ride the Tour of Poland at the end of July and then start the Vuelta a España on August 26th, two important WorldTour events.
Camier believes the information gained and lessons learned in the Giro d’Italia will be of great importance for those races and for other goals in 2024 and beyond.
“We will refine and try and move forward with what we can control in the training and the preparation side,” he explained. “There is nothing like a three week race to open up some cracks and give that deeper level of insight into where there may be areas to improve. So we have got plenty to review and revise over the next weeks. And we will try and step forward and have a good end to this season after a bit of recovery now.”
What is encouraging for Dunbar’s career is the fact that he has just two Grand Tours done thus far. He is 26 years old now; typically riders will have done more three week races that that, particularly those riders who are leading teams.
It is often said that riding a Grand Tour will bring a rider to a new level. How does Camier feel about this presumption?
“The context is important to answer that question specifically. In short, Grand Tours are not a magic bullet in and of themselves, but they are certainly a fundamental part of rider development in the WorldTour,” he answered.
“I don’t think anyone can answer specifically what a Grand Tour does to your physiology, but from a perspective of it being the only time that you will go through that level of load, you get through that much work in that much time. In short, you won’t replicate that level of physiological output, physical output, or work, however you want to term it, in any other environment.
“So, providing the athlete is in a good place and they are ready to take on that level of load, then yes, there can be positive outcomes on the other side of it.”
That will be of excitement to Dunbar, his team and his fans. He faded slightly on the final two mountain stages of the race but now, with this year’s Giro in his legs, the hope will be that he will fully maintain his form until the end of such races in the future. Or, even better, that he might even gain strength relative to his rivals as the days tick by.
“It is fair to say that it [a three week race] adds a level of depth to the condition, or durability and fatigue resistance, which is ultimately what being a good Grand Tour rider is all about,” Camier said. “This imposed stress is what we want when you are developing Grand Tour riders.”
