Eddie Dunbar in France at the NFTO Pro Cycling training camp where he has gone up the HC Col du Glandon at world class pace four weeks after surgery.
One of the most exciting riders in Irish cycling right now, Eddie Dunbar has scaled the HC Col du Glandon ascent in the French Alps faster than anyone else on Strava bar top pro rider Laurens Ten Dam.
Dunbar's team made the claim on Twitter - below - though the young Irishman's record of his climb is not yet uploaded onto Strava.
He is in France at present training with his team mates and two of those he has been riding with - Sam Harrison and James Lewis - have both uploaded their files for their efforts up the climb on Monday.
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Harrison’s time of 1hr 7mins 38 seconds is 14th quickest ever, some way of Ten Dam's 58:48 recorded in the Tour de France in 2012 when he was in the breakaway on stage 11.
Lewis clocked 1:10:47 on Monday, just over three minutes behind Harrison. Both were training with Dunbar at the time.
Based on what the team has said, Dunbar flew up the 12.4 mile ascent - which climbs 4,717ft to an elevation of 6,334ft - somewhere between the second best time on Strava set by Bonnafond Guillaume of Ag2r and Ten Dam's quickest time.
Guillaume's time of 1:03:20 is some 4mins 8secs slower than Ten Dam.
Dunbar, right of shot, with the NFTO Pro Cycling boys during their French training camp. The excursion should launch him back into competition with a bang (Photo: NFTO)
It's a shame we can't tell you Dunbar's exact time, but his riding the climb second fastest when compared to everyone on Strava is extremely impressive.
Thibaut Pinot, the FDJ.fr rider who was 3rd in the Tour de France last year and won the young riders' classification, has posted his data for the climb and is fourth fastest.
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The Frenchman clocked 1hr 5mins 18secs just last week.
And when one considers Dunbar broke his collar bone at the Tour de Yorkshire stage 1 on May 1st and required surgery, the ride is made all the more impressive.
There is also the small matter of Dunbar being a first year U23 rider who is still aged just 18 years.
He has already put in some blistering rides in the UK this year, where he has finished on the podium and animated some of the hardest races.
In the Tour de Yorkshire he got clear in the stage 1 escape and mopped up maximum points on the climbs, looking set for the climbers' jersey before he crashed out shortly after the breakaway was caught.
He was voted most aggressive rider by the cycling public on the day though the race organisers could not present him with the jersey because he did not finished the stage.
He also put in a massive ride in his debut event at the U23 Nations Cup in April; leading La Côte Picarde solo for around 100km and building a lead of over seven minutes before being caught in the final 20km.
While his current team his hoping to jump from Continental level to ProContinental, it very much appears it will have a job on its hands holding onto Dunbar.
Strava top 10, Col du Glandon
Not that it's anyone's business but 4 weeks after surgery @EddieDunbar went 2nd fastest on @Strava up Col De Glandon pic.twitter.com/GcxltuO0aG
— NFTO (@NFTO) June 2, 2015
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