By Shane Stokes
Eddie Dunbar has spoken of his hopes for next year when he believes a clearer run at racing can bring about the kind of performances that both he and his team, Ineos Grenadiers, know he is capable of.
He made his remarks to stickybottle in the wake of his crash in the elite men’s road race in Co Wicklow on Sunday; falling when he was clear with Nicolas Roche (Team DSM).
He also gave his verdict on how the race would have gone but for the crash, saying he believed he and Roche would “definitely” have stayed clear to fight it out for the title. (You can read the rest of this feature length interview by clicking this link and registering as a supporter or logging on if you are already a support)
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But he immediately added those who took the
medals – Ryan Mullen gold, Daire Feeley silver and Conn McDunphy bronze - were
worthy of their achievements and had all ridden impressively.
While X-rays have since revealed Dunbar suffered no broken bones, it was another slice of bad luck for him having been struck down with Covid-19 before La Vuelta this year. He performed superbly in the Tour de Suisse, finishing fourth on a stage, 12th overall and winning the best young rider’s jersey despite sacrificing his chances to help teammate Ricard Carapaz win.
That was a breakthrough performance for him, showing that he had moved to a new level in his career. However after riding the Olympic Games he caught Covid and was forced to miss a number of events including the Vuelta a España.
Sunday’s national championships was only his second race since Tokyo, with a DNF at the World Road Race Championships last Sunday week his only other event.
“I had three weeks off the bike (after catching Covid), a lot of tests to get back onto the bike, then I had to take it really easy. The preparation hasn’t been super but the last three weeks have been good. It’s just nice to race at the end of the season.”
Now 25 years of age, Dunbar remains a young rider but is also conscious that some bad luck has hampered him during recent seasons. He’s hugely talented and knows that if he has better fortune in 2022 and beyond that some very big results are on the horizon.
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“I’m hoping for a clean run, no Covid, no crashing, and let’s see what happens. As I’ve always said, once I get a clean run of racing, I know what I’m capable of and the team knows what I’m capable of. I think I showed a glimpse of that in Swiss this year. So yeah, hopefully next year will be smooth.”
The Ineos Grenadiers rider rode aggressively from the very start last Sunday, attacking on the early hills and helping to forge an initial 18 rider selection. His strong climbing helped whittle things down further and then he and Roche pushed ahead on the Kilmacurragh climb with 94 kilometres remaining.
“I felt really good today,” he told stickybottle. “I had good legs, which I was surprised with actually, after the way I felt last week in Belgium [at the world championships]. Me and Nico were riding well together. You could tell both of us wanted to win today.”
The duo pulled out a lead of approximately a minute and were fending off those chasing behind until Dunbar slid out on a left hand bend with about 60 kilometres remaining. He said afterwards that rain had fallen on the corner when they were racing in dry weather on another section of the course.
“It was dry the three laps before, but on this lap it wasn’t,” he said. “We didn’t get the shower, you see. I’m not making excuses, I should have taken that into note. I took the same line as every lap and yeah, it didn’t work out the third time.
“It’s just unfortunate. I think me crashing kind of messed up the day for the two of us, really. It’s just bad luck. But the guys who got the medals were worthy. It was a tough race and whoever did medal was worthy of it.”
Roche tried to stay clear but with a group chasing behind, his prospects of staying clear evaporated once Dunbar was behind. So does the latter believe they could have stayed clear until the finish?
“Definitely,” he answered. “I think we had a good gap. And we were we were really riding to our strengths on the hills. The gap would go out [grow]. I think in that situation, me and Nico know how to ride. We were working well together.
“But I don’t want to take anything away from the boys. The race was the race. It would have been nice to have stayed away and see what would have happened, but look, super ride by the guys.”
Dunbar was reeled in by those behind, then later dropped back to the team cars to get his injuries assessed. He then abandoned. “I tried to come back a bit but I just didn’t like to way my shoulder was feeling,” he explained.
“I’ve done my collarbone four times now, I think. So I’m too used to it, which isn’t a good thing, he said, and thankfully no broken bones were diagnosed in checks after the race.
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