Ireland's Eddie Dunbar was honest in appraising his own performance at the Innsbruck Worlds. He said he was very disappointed with his result considering the way the Irish U23 had ridden for him (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Eddie Dunbar has paid tribute to his Irish team mates at the World Championships, saying they had given their all for him.
The 22-year-old Team Sky rider was 20th in the U23 race in Innsbruck today.
He had been vying for a medal on the penultimate lap of the circuit. And said he was very disappointed he couldn’t keep it going.
Having been in great form last week while riding his first races for Team Sky, he said his legs simply did not turn up today.
And that was why he tried to make his move off the front on the flat and going downhill rather than up the climb; which would usually be his preferred terrain.
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Eddie Dunbar added the team knew they could win the race; with him as their leader. And he approached the race wanting gold, saying anything short of that could not been deemed a success.
And he believed the way the team – Daire Feeley, Darragh O’Mahoney and Michael O’Loughlin – took over at the front of the race was a big step forward for an Irish team.
“I think the Irish lads deserve massive credit because they rode superbly today and I’ve never seen that,” he said of the squad’s effort as a unit.
"I’ve never seen any Irish team take control of a race like they did today; in a world championship even. And they deserve a lot of credit for that.
"We had a meeting last night. We knew we could win the race and we gave ourselves the best possible chance of doing that.
“When push came to shove today I probably did let everyone down here. But it was just wasn’t my day; my legs just didn’t show up.
"I was there mentally today but my legs weren’t. And that’s kinda disappointing because I had good form last week.
“And I thought my prep coming into this and everything I’ve done.... I don’t think I could have actually done it better.
"Not finishing off today (after) what the guys did; it’s just a bit disappointing. But it’s bike racing and life goes on.”
Dunbar took flight with two laps remaining. There were just two leaders ahead of him at the time. And the bunch was down to less than 30 riders.
He was chasing Patrick Muller of Germany and Mark Padun (Ukraine); the duo having broken clear from a seven-man group on the third of the four circuits in Innsbruck.
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But when Dunbar went, he was marked by another one of the Swiss riders; Gino Mader. And because Mader had Muller up front, it fell to Dunbar to do the work.
He got to within nine seconds of the two leaders taking the bell for the last lap. But then he began to run out of legs; the two leaders riding away again and the group behind closing on him.
Dunbar and Mader were caught on the final climb; the Irish rider losing his place in the select group shortly after he was caught.
The two leaders would be overhauled on the final climb. And then the medal winners went clear in a three-man moved.
Marc Hirschi (Switzerland), Bjorg Lambrecht (Belgium) and Jaakko Hänninen (Finland) would finish in that order on the podium.
Eddie Dunbar said he knew his usual climbing legs weren’t with him today. And so in a bid to do something with the chance his team had carved out for him, he mixed up his tactics and tried something new.
"We rode to win the race today. I went in with the intention of winning and I would have been happy with nothing else,” he said.
"The third time up the climb when they went full (gas); I just realised ‘right, if the race comes down to the climb it’s not going to be my day today’.
"I just thought I need to think of a different way of doing what I normally do. And that was by attacking on the descent.
"I came close to the two guys out front,” he said of Muller and Padun. “If there was any other rider than the Swiss rider with me it might have been a slightly different race going onto that final lap.
"I wouldn’t have had to spend too much energy trying to across to the two up front. We actually would have caught them, I think.”
Dunbar said earlier in the race he did not feel good but then suspected he was coming around. However, his body didn’t react the way it normally does as the race wore on.
“We hit the circuit and we rode the first time up the climb and I felt pretty alright,” h confirmed.
“Normally when I do that I start to feel better. I know my body well enough now.
“I started the race and I didn’t feel great at all. And normally I’d say, ‘alright give it time, I haven’t raced in a week so maybe just ride into it’.
"I ate and drank perfectly. I couldn’t have done that better. (But) I never actually rode myself into it.
“Normally when you’re riding on the front like that it opens you up a little bit.
"That’s the way I wanted to race today and stay out of trouble and stay out of the wind.
“I know I was probably seen at the front quite a bit. But I was still sheltered. I just didn’t feel it today; I’m quite disappointed."
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