Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) will, his team says, be give his chance at UAE Tour despite the presence of Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen leading the line-up. With seven stages to come, two are for climbers.
Irishman Dunbar will look to test himself properly for the first time this season on those ascents; stages three and seven finishing on the climbs of Jebel Jais and Jebel Hafeet.
It will be Dunbar's first appearance in the race and as his team has a double climbing challenge, management believes the Irishman, and Groenewegen in the sprints, can bring success over the next week.
“We come to the UAE Tour with the goal to win a stage with Dylan, he’s won here before and he’s in good condition with a good team around him to help get that job done," said Team Jayco AlUla sports director David McPartland.
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"Then for the GC we also have Eddie and David (Peña, Colombian climber), but we know we will have to be attentive and on the front foot. We can see there’s already some wind forecast for the first couple of stages, so that will be the first challenge to get through.
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"They will also need to do a good time trial before the first mountain stage, which suits both of them, then we will reassess from there, but the goal is to give those guys opportunities.“
The team also includes Jan Maas, Luka Mezgec, Kelland O’Brien and Elmar Reinders and with four sprinters' stages, Groenewegen is looking to add to the victory he took last month at Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana (1.1).
“We had a nice start to the season with the win in Valencia, then I had to leave the AlUla Tour early because I got sick, but now I am fully recovered and I’m looking forward to getting back to racing again at the UAE Tour," he said.
"The level of sprinters in UAE will be high, but we know how to win here as a team, we showed we can do it last year and I am confident we can do it again this year.
"I will have Elmar and Luka with me again and we will also add Kell to the lead-out, so we have a strong team around me for the sprints, and we are ready.”
