Eddie Dunbar explains how and why he decided to abandon the nationals before familiar faces encouraged him to get going again (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
Eddie Dunbar explains abandoning and restarting champs
Having already come 2nd at the National Road Championships a few years ago, Eddie Dunbar was one of the hot favourites last weekend.
However, it wasn’t to be his day and instead Aqua Blue Sport team mate Conor Dunne proved a very popular winner.
Dunbar said the race was tough both mentally and physically. At one point he decided to abandon so he pulled in and unclipped.
- Eddie Dunbar's observations on saving energy in races: read them here
However, a few familiar faces showed up and, in an unusual move, persuaded him to get going again.
He outlined what happened writing on his team’s racing blog.
“I was riding along with Ryan (Mullen, Trek-Segafredo) and I had had enough,” Dunbar said of the contest in Sligo promoted by Eire Og CC.
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“Conor was up the road with about 20 others. So I couldn’t really do much in terms of chasing – which was fine.
“And in the heat I hadn’t taken on enough water and was suffering a bit from dehydration. My race was done, or so I told myself, and I stopped. Clipped out.
“But then the Aqua Blue Sport team car was taking some time to make its way up to me. And in the meantime, the car from Kanturk CC pulled up,” he said of his old club.
“And let’s just say I got a slap on the wrist from a few familiar faces! They gave me a talking to, told me not to give in, and they were right.
“I clipped back in and drove on. After half a lap I found myself in a nice group of six, working together to cover moves. And lo and behold, ended up coming seventh in the race.”
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Dunbar on the climb, leading around a left hander and taking the sprint from the group for 7th; one of the riders he singled out for praise, Lindsay Watson, on the right of shot.
In the end Dunne finished on his own, with Darnel Moore (Caldwell Cycles) also solo for 2nd place. Then came the Team Wiggins pair Mark Downey and Michael O’Loughlin.
Marc Potts (Unattached) and Nicolas Roche (BMC) finished just head of Dunbar’s group, which was sprinting for 7th.
Dunbar faced a familiar scenario for pros returning to Ireland; feeling like a marked man.
“I found it an exhausting race, but more in the mental than physical sense,” he said if the 10-lap event.
“Going into a race like that, as one of the favourites, is always going to be very difficult. And you’d want to be on a super day to be able to pull it off.
“You’re a marked man, and there is a lot of cat and mouse which can be frustrating. Everyone is fighting for the shamrock.
“But you find a lot of guys who are racing your rather than racing the race. I don’t mind that – it’s what we do, it’s our job. But it can be frustrating.
“Everybody wants to be the guy who chases somebody down and brings them back.
“I have a lot of respect for the domestic guys who go in and race the race rather than sitting on a wheel and following, following, following.
“Guys like Darnell Moore, who went in there and raced his bike and came second; or Lindsay Watson to name just one more.
“I’ve been racing in Ireland since I was under 11. It hasn’t changed much and I don’t suppose it ever will, but I guess that’s also the beauty of it.”
Dunbar also wrote about the Tour de Suisse, saying he really learned the importance of conserving energy in big stage races.
He is currently in Croatia enjoying a week’s holidays with his girlfriend. After that he is looking to GP Cerami and the Tour de Wallonie in Belgium.
Riding the European Road Race Championships in Glasgow in August is another goal. And a target race for him will be the Tour of Britain.
“It's a big one for the team and it’s only over the water so I might even go and look at a few of the stages in advance,” he said.
“My main aim for the rest of the year is to try to make the team for that race, to prepare as best as I can and to see what happens."
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