Eddie Dunbar has said the tough uphill finish to stage 2 of Tour de Pologne today was a "shock to the system", though he was now well placed to try and improve his 5th spot in the general classification with five stages remaining.
The Irishman, riding with Team Jayco AlUla this year, was notably very well supported in the finale today. When the strongest teams in the bunch were on the front riding hard into the base of the final climb, the Jayco AlUla team impressed, keeping Dunbar very close to the front.
The Irishman slipped back a little after Geraint Thomas - working for Ineos Grenadiers team mate Michał Kwiatkowski - hit the front and proved by far the strongest of the 'domestiques' on team duties. However, Dunbar maintained his place close to the front and was among the best on the climb to the line, finishing in 8th, just four seconds behind winner Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious).
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The Irish rider is now 5th overall, among a group of seven riders on all on the same time, some 14 seconds down on race leader Mohorič. Dunbar also said in his post-race comments that his recent first ever stint at altitude was an unknown for him, but so far the impact on his body seemed to be very positive.
"After three weeks at altitude (and) a bit of an easier week, I'm happy," he said. "I didn't know how I'd react coming off altitude, I've never done it before, and so far it seems to be working. It would (have been) nice just to get up there on the podium today. But I just couldn't; my legs went, couldn't sprint at the finish. But I didn't lose too much time on GC so hopefully now we can just improve each day and try and hold on."
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In the last 300m, the select group Dunbar was in reeled in Rafał Majka (UAE Team Emirates) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny), who attacked as the final 5km climb started. Once they were caught, Mohorič made his move with about 200m to go, with João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Dunbar behind him.
However, while Almeida managed to hang onto Mohorič's wheel, and finish 2nd behind him - some four seconds up on the next eight riders - Dunbar was gapped a little. The Corkman will have another chance tomorrow, when the finish again features climbing, though shorter ascents than he would like.
While slightly disappointed at not being able to make the podium today, Dunbar - who has not raced since his 7th place finish in the Giro in May - said he feels good and was really happy with the team support today.
"It was a really good performance by the guys, they did a super job of keeping me in position on the second to last climb and then into the last climb," he said. "It was a bit of a drag race there and we hit the climb in a good position - it was a really, really good team effort.
"And then the last climb... I think everyone was just hurting. It turned out to be quite an aggressive last 60k in the bunch; just fast, a really hard tempo all the time. I think a lot of guys felt their legs, I think a good bit of the peloton hasn't raced in a few weeks or a couple of months, like myself. So, certainly, it was a bit of a shock to the system."
