Eddie Dunbar returns to action today, Tuesday, with Team Ineos at Giro dell'Emilia (1.Pro); a 200km race with a profile that can suit the Irishman.
The race takes the riders from Casalecchio di Reno to San Luca over a hilly course with a finishing circuit featuring a testing climb tackled four times before finishing at the top of the San Luca climb.
That climb is 2km, with an average gradient of 9.8 per cent, and its profile as well as the fact it is ridden repeatedly can suit the punchy climbers in the field including Dunbar.
The 23-year-old goes into the event with some top quality racing in his legs since the season re-start; Dunbar having ridden Vuelta a Burgos and Tour de Pologne, both with five stages, before tackling Il Lombardia last weekend.
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He finished 41st in the Italian monument on Saturday some 14½ minutes down on winner Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) with Richard Carapaz best of the Team Ineos riders in 13th.
Carapaz is back again today with Dunbar and they are among a strong line-up that includes Tao Geoghegan Hart, Gianni Moscon, Brandon Rivera and Ivan Sosa.
Fuglsang heads the field with his team mate, and 3rd in Il Lombardia, Aleksandr Vlasov also down to ride. Trek-Segafredo figured strongly on Saturday and they are back with Vincenzo Nibali and Giulio Ciccone.
Diego Ulissi (UAE-Team Emirates), who was 2nd at Gran Piemonte last week and 8th in Il Lombardia, is also riding. One of Deceuninck-QuickStep's breakthrough riders of late, 22-year-old João Almeida, is capable of a big result.
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