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By Brian Canty
Ireland´s Eddie Dunbar will end his long wait for
competitive action on Thursday when he lines up in France for the four-day Tour
de la Provence (2.Pro) as part of a very strong Ineos Grenadiers line-up.
The 24-year old is one of two Irishmen in the race alongside compatriot Nicolas Roche (Team DSM) for what will hopefully be the first chapter of a fruitful season in the months ahead after a bruising time of it last year.
It will be just over five months to the day since Dunbar
last raced; his last outing being the ill-fated third stage of last year´s
Tirreno-Adriatico where he crashed hard and broke his collarbone.
Though he had still hoped to make the team for the Giro d
´Italia last October, Dunbar said another crash a week after that Tirreno
touchdown ended his season.
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“I went back on the road maybe a week after the crash in
Tirreno. I was overly motivated and too keen because I put in so much effort
all year,” he said of trying to get back on his bike a little too soon.
“I worked so hard to be good for the Giro. I came back to
Monaco and I was out training with G (Geraint Thomas) and I crashed again on
the descent, crawling down…” he said.
“It was slightly damp and I went around the bend. I didn’t
do anything wrong and the front wheel just disappeared and I went back down on
the collarbone again.
“I thought the Vuelta might be an option but when that
happened the season was done. It hurt a lot,” he said of missing the Giro, a
possible Vuelta ride, and the Worlds in Imola on a grippy course that may have
suited him.
We’ve had a long chat with Dunbar about his year living
in Monaco, his close friendship with Sam Bennett, his terrible French, his
hopes for the year ahead and his packed race programme and we’ll have that
interview in the next day or two.
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