Eddie Dunbar cut a dejected figure at the end of stage 2 of Giro d'Italia today having crashed with just over 60km to go and then been forced into a hard chase to regain the peloton with about 60km to go.
A video of the incident - which is available at this link - clearly showed Dunbar had some difficulty gathering himself after the crash, and was a sure indication he had taken a very heavy fall.
After getting back on, Dunbar had to drop back to the doctor's car to get patched though before losing over five minutes on the final climb. The 27-year-old Irishman, who started the race so well yesterday, cut a dejected figure at stage end and was clearly in pain.
His team sports director Dave McPartland said when the crash happened, Dunbar had to go deep when to get back into the group again. Added to that, he was left with a series of injuries and be checked by the medics to try and determine the full extent of his condition.
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Dunbar was slumped over the handlebars at the finish of the stage, clearly very disappointed at crashing and losing so much time, and was sporting cuts on his right hand and several gashes to his right leg.
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"There was a crash there quite early and he spent big bickies coming back," said McPartland, using what we assumed is Aussie slang for 'a lot of energy'.
"He's got some pain in his shoulder and his hand so we need to assess that tonight. We lost some big time there with Eddie so it's a big bummer for us . We were hoping for better with Eddie today."
The Irish rider came down at a roundabout with just over 60km to go, one of about half a dozen fallers. He was seen on TV limping off the road and towards his bike but only after trying to steady himself after the initial fall.
While some of the other riders left the scene in an apparently untroubled condition, it was immediately clear Dunbar had taken a bigger hit, and he seemed to be nursing his hand, as well as limping. Hopefully he will be cleared to continue in the race and may now target a stage win.
He finished today in 51st position, in a small group 5:54 down on stage winner and new general classification leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). Dunbar was also just over five minutes down on most of the riders with designs on the top five overall, or even the final podium.
