Well known for his long range attacks like this one that put him into the yellow jersey in the Junior Tour last year, Eddie Dunbar said it was best to try the same tactic at the Nations Cup last week and put himself on show rather than sit in and stage a late effort that would come to nothing (Photo: www.jimmymcelroy.com – follow Jimmy on Facebook and Twitter.)
By Brian Canty
Eddie Dunbar has revealed what the greatest cyclist of all time said to him when they came face-to-face in France last Wednesday, following the Irish teenager’s heroic solo break in the Cote de Picardie U23 Nations Cup race.
The 18 year-old NFTO man was greeted by Belgian legend Eddy Merckx on the stage after he rode out front by himself for over 100k, winning the climbers’ and points classification as well as the most aggressive rider award.
Advertisement
“It was just a bit crazy,” Dunbar recalled of the incident.
“The fact it was an U23 race and there were really good names in there… Eddy Merckx came up to me and said ‘that was brilliant, well done’.
“And before I left the stage he came up again and said the same thing.
“When someone like that says it you don’t know how to react! It was an honour. I came back to the hotel, Twitter went mental and the response from people was unbelievable.
Who's Eddie? Ireland's Dunbar on the podium in France last Wednesday with the top three finishers and Eddy Merckx.
“It’s very hard to get around to thanking everyone but I really appreciated the support.
“It means a lot to me and definitely spurs me on to do better things and hopefully I can continue to make people happy.”
Dunbar’s stock has been steadily rising over the past two years but he seems to be in much better form than ever now, as last Wednesday illustrated.
He said having studied the route book the night before he felt he could do something in the race.
“I was looking at the course trying to figure out what the best thing to do was,” he said.
“I knew it was a lot harder than the parcours suggested but the hills were only about a kilometre long.
Dunbar, on the right of the group closest to camera, shows his form at the head of affairs in the Tour of the Reservoir in the UK the weekend before last (Photo: British Cycling)
“They were steepish but not too long; nothing you could do real damage on, they needed to be longer.
“So I said I might as well attack it; I knew it would come down to some kind of a sprint, be it 30 or 50 and that’s what happened.
Related News
“I figured I could sit in the bunch, wait until the last lap, make an attack up the climb but be caught 10k later and finish 40th, where I did.
“The best thing to do was show how strong I am and what I can do.
“So I went up the road and basically just stayed out there for as long as I could. And the fact I was able to stay with the bunch (when caught) after was a big bonus.”
Dunbar has won from such long-range attacks in the past but knew it was a different kettle of fish this time.
Eddie Dunbar, left, in characteristically aggressive form up the road against the pros at the Jock Wadley Memorial in Colchester, Essex, last month. In his first season on the UK pro scene, he has already marked himself as one of the strongest riders (Photo: VeloUK.net)
“Kurt came up in the team car and said ‘keep riding at the same tempo’,” he said the Irish U23 team manager Kurt Bogaerts who is also manager of trade team An Post-Chainreaction.
“He said he’d come up when they start chasing behind, and when they’d chase I was to go faster.
“When he came up and said seven minutes I didn’t think it’d be that much though.
“I stayed at the same tempo, tried to control myself, stayed eating and drinking and I seemed to get stronger as it went on.”
Alas, he’d be caught as the Australians ramped up the pace behind.
“It wasn’t so much that I slowed down but they sped up a lot more. I held a constant pace and I felt strong.
There is a world of difference between attacking the Shay Elliott Memorial as a junior riding against the Irish elites last year, above, and riding races such as the Nations Cup international series. But Eddie Dunbar applies the same tactic every time he throws his leg over the crossbar; attack early and often (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
“Even when they caught me at the bottom of the climb, they went past me fast but I was able to stay in there. I sat in comfortably on the last climb and to finish in the group was good.
“It would’ve been nice to help Jack (Wilson) out in the sprint but I couldn’t move up.
“I was watching him and I thought he was definitely on for top 15,” he added of Wilson who would crash at the finish and break his collarbone and wrist.
“I was quite happy with how it went because I won the KOM competition, the sprint competition and most aggressive rider award.
“Winning the three of them and still finishing in the bunch comfortably was great; it was a good day out.
“I could have sat in and got nowhere, or do what I did, get a bit of coverage for Cycling Ireland and myself and NFTO… It was a good day and I was happy.”
Topics
