Eddie Dunbar is currently in Ireland for the National Road Championships and his Team Ineos squad has named its line-up for the Tour de France.
Eddie Dunbar’s Team Ineos has unveiled its Tour de France line-up, with Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal as joint leaders.
Dunbar is not in the selection and was not expected to
be. Still aged just 22 years, he is in his first season at WorldTour level and
rode the Giro last month.
He was 22nd overall in that race and went up the road in
the mountains several times, taking 3rd on stage 12 of the race.
However, having been a late call-up for the Giro, it was
never mooted that Dunbar would ride the Tour so soon after the Italian race.
It is still possible he may ride the Vuelta though he is a young talent to be developed long term.
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Team Ineos would carefully consider if a second Grand Tour this year may be a step too far for a rider of Dunbar’s age.
In his anticipate absence from the Tour de France team, a strong group
of riders is set to join Thomas (33) and Bernal (22) for the race.
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Also in the team is Jonathan Castroviejo (32) along with Michal Kwiatkowski (29), Gianni Moscon (25), Wout Poels (31), Luke Rowe (29) and Dylan van Baarle (27).
"It’s no secret my build-up has been affected by the
crash at Tour de Suisse, but I’ve had a good block of training since and I feel
ready,” said Thomas.
“We believe it makes sense to go into the race with joint
leaders as it gives us more options.
“Egan and I will work hard for each other and the Team over the three weeks of the race.”
Bernal, who has better form than Thomas but not his
results and consistency, said he was looking forward to going back to his
second Tour.
“As a bike rider, whatever you might think about the Tour
from the outside you don’t really know it until you have raced it,” he said.
“Now I know what to expect, I can be more relaxed about
what lies ahead and even more focused on the racing.”
Team principal Dave Brailsford said selecting the team
was not straightforward following Chris Froome’s crash during the Dauphine.
“After the success of last year, we have decided to come
into the race with joint leaders,” he said.
“Geraint and Egan are both in great form. They trust each
other and we believe that this approach will best suit us as a team by giving
us the greatest flexibility on the road and the best possible chance of
success.”
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