Eddie Dunbar has been named on the Ineos Grenadiers team for Critérium du Dauphiné, which should prove an interesting opportunity to test his level against some of the biggest names in the pro peloton on the climbs.
The big question for Dunbar, as ever with Ineos Grenadiers, is whether he will get a chance to target a result of his own. Ethan Hayter is also in the team line-up and the presence of a relatively long TT next week may mean he is the favoured rider.
However, if Dunbar did get an opportunity of his own, a win in a race of this stature, and against the big name riders in this field, would represent a huge step forward in his progression.
Having taken his recent GC wins - at Coppi e Bartali and Tour de Hongrie - on short climbs, rather than major mountains, several stages of Critérium du Dauphiné look tailor made for Dunbar to target a victory.
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The eight-stage race begins on Sunday, with medium climbing stages for the first two days. Next Tuesday's stage 3 features the first uphill finish, to Chastreix-Sancy, where a 6.2km climb at 5.6 per cent will test the GC men and looks like the perfect distance for Dunbar. The stage 4 TT - some 31.9km over a flat course - will not be to the Irishman's liking and will make it hard for him to mount a GC challenge.
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Stages 5 and 6, like the opening two stages, feature multiple small to medium climbs, but are not uphill finishes. However, the climbing finish of stage 7 - to Vaujany - is another that can suit Dunbar; some 5.8km at 7.2 per cent. The riders will first race over the HC Col du Galibier, from the start, and then onto the HC Col de la Croix de Fer before that shorter concluding climb, which should make for a great stage.
The race then concludes on Sunday week with 138.8km of racing to Plateau de Salaison. It will involve a very hard finale; the 11.9km Col de la Colombiere, at 5.7 per cent, before a descent and then straight onto the concluding climb of 11.4km at 8.9 per cent.
After his two GC wins so far this season, Dunbar is stepping up a level, to his first World Tour race of the season. He will also face what looks like most of Jumbo Visma's Tour de France team - including Primož Roglič and Wout van Aert - as well as Enric Mas (Movistar). While the UAE Team Emirates line-up will not include Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar, it will feature George Bennett and Brandon McNulty.
Also among the confirmed starters are the EF Education-EasyPost duo of Esteban Chaves and Mark Padun as well as Bahrain Victorious riders Jack Haig and Damiano Caruso. Tobias Halland Johannessen starts for Uno-X Pro Cycling Team and Ben O'Connor is in the AG2R Citroën line-up.
In the Ineos Grenadiers team with Dunbar and Hayter are: Andrey Amador, Laurens Des Plus, Filippo Ganna, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Michał Kwiatkowski.
