The Irish national team made a successful return to the An Post Rás this week. Taking fourth on GC and a stage win through Eddie Dunbar, manager David McCann said he was thrilled with how the team rode and he couldn't have asked for more from anyone. (Photo: DC Images - John Coleman)
By Brian Canty
Irish national team manager David McCann has said the An Post Rás “couldn’t have gone better” for his charges after they took home a stage win and a fourth overall on general classification.
As well as Eddie Dunbar’s landmark victory on Saturday’s penultimate stage, the team raced aggressively all week and were rewarded by featuring in a number of strong breakaways.
Christopher McGlinchey managed a top 10 on a stage in Dungarvan while Mark Downey’s 13th overall were two of the other highlights of the week.
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Downey's general classification ride was perhaps overshadowed by Dunbar's presence in the team and his stage win, but it was a fantastic week for the Banbridge man and signals his progress is continuing relentlessly.
“It couldn’t have gone better,” said McCann of the last week. “There were lots of crashes but our lads came through relatively unscathed.
“We went in with the objective of developing a couple of lads but I couldn’t believe how much they progressed from it.
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“I think every one of them went away having achieved what we set out to achieve. They got fourth overall and a stage win as well which is a total bonus,” he added.
They had tried to take yellow from the seemingly indefatigable Clemens Fankhauser but the 30 year-old Austrian proved too tough a nut to crack.
“To be honest, I was chatting to David McQuaid (Synergy Baku team manager) five days ago and I said it would be difficult to beat Clemens.
“It was almost impossible. The plan was to try and get someone else for the stage win yesterday, get someone in a break without the GC guys was our plan.”
Ronan McLaughlin obliged by escaping in a six-man move but that was reeled in with 10 kilometres remaining.
“Conor Dunne (JLT-Condor Cycles) was in there so they couldn’t get too much time but Ronan rode well all week, he had a couple of crashes and mechanicals… he had a chance to be up there.”
As regards man-of-the-moment Dunbar, McCann said: “He had good legs, he was up against really strong opposition on Saturday in that break.
“The three Aussies were riding strongly, Clemens the same and to be honest, I wasn’t sure if he’d pull it off but he rode fantastically to get the win.”
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