Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) may have suffered very bad luck on his season debut for his new team earlier this month, but the Irishman has been training away solo and is now eyeing a return to racing action.
His plan to ride the Giro d'Italia, where he will be a team leader, is still in place and once his scheduled competitive return is problem-free, he should have plenty of time to get himself into Grand Tour condition in coming weeks.
The 26-year-old was riding his first race for Team Jayco AlUla when he crashed three weeks ago on the opening stage of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.Pro). While he got back on his bike and finished stage 1, he did not start the following day. X-rays since then have revealed a small fracture to his hand.
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Dunbar, who is based in Monaco, has been doing his efforts indoors in recent weeks. He has been training twice a day as he looks to get back into the peloton in good condition despite missing the race in Valenciana and UAE Tour, which he was also due to ride this week.
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And while he has not yet resumed training on the open roads - as he has a cast on his hand and wrist and must wait for the fracture to heal - he is hopeful he will be back on the roads next week.
He is now penciled in to return to action at Milano-Torino (1.Pro), a one-day race in Italy on March 15th. That will be an extra race in his plans as he was not originally slated to ride the event.
It should offer a gentle reintroduction to racing action before Dunbar then effectively resumes his original schedule of races by competing in the Itzulia Basque Country (2.UWT), starting on April 3rd for six stages. That race, which features plenty of short and sharp climbing that should really suit Dunbar, will be an ideal tune-up for the Giro.
The Italian Grand Tour gets underway on May 6th with an 18.4km individual TT from Fossacesia Marina to Ortona in eastern Italy by the Adriatic Sea.
