Eddie Dunbar will spearhead the Irish national team in the An Post Rás which gets underway on Sunday week.
By Brian Canty
It has been confirmed that Eddie Dunbar will race in the colours of the Irish national team for the An Post Rás which gets underway on Sunday week from Dublin Castle.
The talented 19-year old from Banteer, Co. Cork will lead a five-man national team for the race just five weeks after breaking his collar bone in a crash while out training near his home.
His place on the Irish team is huge news on a number of fronts.
Firstly, the fact there is an Irish national team in the country’s only UCI-ranked race is a positive sign in its own right.
In recent years, that has not been the case and it gave very little incentive for Irish riders to really impress in the early part of the season.
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Though the exact constitution of the team has yet to be confirmed, it raises the likelihood of there being an Irish winner of the race, or at least one or more riders who can challenge for jerseys.
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For Dunbar himself, it’s massive news and is the silver lining on the cloud that was his ill-timed crash as he had been preparing for the Tour of California.
Racing on home roads is something Dunbar absolutely loves but since he turned professional, he had very little opportunity to do so.
He will love the look of the course with so many climbs and despite his injury setback, he is one of a few Irish riders with genuine a chance of a stage win or challenging for the U23 jersey.
He was back training on the road doing light sessions immediately after an operation on his collar bone and sources close to stickybottle informed us there was no pain to where Dunbar was injured in the immediate aftermath of the surgery.
He progressed to some work on the turbo trainer and with the race another 10 days away it gives him more time to increase his top-end power, something he will need when the flag drops on Sunday week.
Speaking to stickybottle tonight, Tuesday, a spokesperson from his Axeon Hagens Berman team confirmed he would be riding the Irish race.
"It was originally in the plan for Eddie to compete in the Amgen Tour of California. But the broken collar bone changed his program," the spokesperson said.
"Fortunately, his recovery has been to plan and he will be able to compete in the Rás for the national team.
"Eddie would have done the Tour of the Gila last week in New Mexico as a lead-up to the race in California."
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