Eddie Dunbar (24) has made the cut for the Ineos Grenadiers Ardennes Classics group and is a confirmed starter at Amstel Gold on Sunday, the first of the trio of races in the week ahead.
The 217km classic starting in Valkenburg and finishing in Berg en Terblijt on Sunday is on a modified course this year; a decision forced upon the race organisers due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new route is 13 laps of a closed circuit course, with the iconic Cauberg climb to be tackled each lap, making it much like a World Championships course and one that can really suit Dunbar.
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With Ineos Grenadiers having a hot favourite for victory in its ranks in the shape of Tom Pidcock, Dunbar and his team mates go into Sunday’s classic with high expectations and carrying some pressure.
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Pidcock, a 21-year-old neo pro, came of age on Wednesday when he rode a very strong and clever race at De Brabantse Pijl to win. He pulled clear with Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) and Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) and beat them comprehensively in the final sprint.
That victory marks him out as one of the favourites for
Sunday, though there are many alongside him in that group.
As well as Pidcock and Dunbar in the team, Ineos Grenadiers has also selected 2019 Giro winner Richard Carapaz, Luke Rowe, recent Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Dylan van Baarle and former world champion and 2015 Amstel Gold winner Michał Kwiatkowski.
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It is a team with several potential winners and with Carapaz having taken a grand total of one win since signing for the team, he needs a big victory and is due one.
It means it is likely the team will ride for him and Pidcock, though Dunbar could also impress, especially if he was given licence to go on the attack.
This will be his third outing at Amstel Gold having ridden it with Aqua Blue Sport in 2018 and also in 2019 with his current employers, then Team Sky.
In 2018 with Aqua Blue Sport he put in a fantastic ride as he was in the breakaway for most of the race and was only caught on the climb of the Cauberg with about 17km to go. He had to be helped off his bike at the finish such was the effort he put in.
With so much at stake for his team on Sunday and with two potential winners, and and two outside bets in the shape of Kwiatkowski and Van Baarle, Dunbar is unlikely to get the same kind of freedom he enjoyed three years ago.
However, if the team wanted to mix things up it may opt to send riders up the road and Dunbar would relish such a chance. He may go a lot further now than he did three years ago.
The group of favourites for Sunday is an impressive one and includes world champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Vuelta champion Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and Gent Wevelgem winner Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma).
One of last season’s breakthrough stars, Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), will also look to impress and others who could win include Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) and the in form Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
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