Eddie Dunbar has been confirmed among the Team Jayco AlUla line-up for the Giro d'Italia, with the Irish rider one of four riders the team believes can take big results at the Italian Grand Tour. However, he is the team's outright leader for the general classification.
Though he has had a bumpy ride towards this year's race, after a crash, Dunbar faced the same challenges last season. On that occasion he still excelled at the Giro towards a career-best result of 7th in the final general classification.
This year, his team's outlook is different, with Australians Luke Plapp and and Caleb Ewan now part of the picture. Ewan is an 11-time Giro stage winner and he goes back to a Grand Tour with this team looking to put behind him some difficult times with his last team Lotto Dstny.
Advertisement
As a result, he will be supported - by Luka Mezgec and Max Walscheid - in those stages where he is in a position to go for a sprint victory. Plapp, who is a solid - if not pure - climber and a very talented TT rider will also target a stage win where he can.
Dunbar is looking to go a general classification ride, while his Italian team mate, Filippo Zana, who won a stage last year (above) will be looking to impress on the climbs again and aiming for another victory along the way.
Related News
The team is completed by Alessandro De Marchi, who last week won a stage at Tour of the Alps and is team captain for the Giro. Dunbar, Zana and De Marchi are the climbing unit in the team, with Dunbar leader for the GC.
The Irish rider suffered a crash on stage 2 of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.Pro) back in February, sustaining a hand injury and did not start the following day. He crashed again, after being hit from behind at UAE Tour in late February and was forced out of that race after the opening stage.
Though it was feared he had broken a bone, it was later confirmed as severe bruising and he was able to returned to training, and then racing, sooner than expected. He has since ridden Itzulia Basque Country (2.UWT) and last week's Tour de Romandie (2.UWT), where he did not start the final stage.
However, though his racing and training schedule was far from perfect, he has been back at it for some time and can hopefully hit the ground running at the Giro. The first two stages feature climbs - including Sunday's cat 1 finish to Santuario di Oropa - which should result in the first time gains and losses in the fight for the general classification.
“It will be exciting to be there at the start next Saturday for one of the world’s most fascinating races," said team general manager Brent Copeland. "The Giro officially starts on 4th May but in reality, it started many months ago. Riders and staff have worked for months to prepare for this event, which has always given us great satisfaction over the years.
"I’m proud of the work we’ve done together and I’m sure our team will stand out in each of the 21 stages. We have built a team that brings together highly experienced men and young athletes with great talent. We’re finally here, it’s time to leave the verdict to the roads.”
