Eddie Dunbar wrapped up a great win in the Junior Tour of Ireland with stage victory on Sunday’s final stage. Sounding content and confident after his biggest win to date, he says he owes a huge debt to the people around him, mostly to mentor and coach Dan Curtin of his home club O’Leary Stone Kanturk (Photo: Adrian O’Connor www.blackumbrellaphotography.com)
By Brian Canty
The 2013 winner of the Junior Tour of Ireland, Eddie Dunbar has praised the work of all those who helped him capture the overall win on Sunday in County Clare.
The O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk starlet spent the week riding with the Stena Ireland team with Dylan Foley and Thomas Fallon and he said without their help he wouldn’t now be the first Irish winner of the race since Sam Bennett in 2008.
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“It hasn’t even hit me yet really,” said an emotional Dunbar.
“I won Sunday’s stage for Dylan and Thomas as a thanks for the work they did for me all week. I said I’d finish it off in style. What they did for me; that’s energy-sapping. And to only have three riders as well after Matt Doyle had to pull out, to do what they done and control the whole race was just unbelievable. I’m so proud for them and all the credit goes to them.”
“The lads just sat on the front of the bunch the whole time and anything that went they’d just be straight on it setting a steady tempo to bring it back. And they deserve as much credit as me for the win,” he added.
Dunbar took the yellow jersey from Mark Downey (NRPT) on Thursday when he put in the performance of the week, riding man after man off his wheel before coming over the line some two and a half minutes ahead of the next rider.
“I went up the Cliffs of Moher and I could see the group behind me, they were only about 100 metres back from me but I said if they want the jersey they’ll have to work for it,” he explained.
“So I just put the head down, got over the top and I knew I had a tailwind home. I just put the head down, kept it nice and steady and then the last 10k I just picked it up and the gap kept growing.”
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And though he held a healthy lead starting on Friday morning’s stage 4, the yellow jersey was in real doubt when a large group escaped up the road. Fallon was in the break and didn’t work, but Doyle had pulled out – leaving just Foley to control matters.
“I actually lost the jersey on the road,” said first year junior Dunbar.
“There were two people after passing me on GC and there were a few times when I went up to Dylan and said ‘I think I have to go to bring it back’. But in fairness to Dylan, he kept my head on my shoulders, as well as his own and said ‘trust me, I will bring you to the finish. And in fairness he did that.”
“Thomas didn’t do a tap in the break and was mopping up KOH points so the minute he was back in the bunch they worked like savages and it really topped off the day. It was some day. They just rode superbly. But Dylan was incredible. He just rode on the front for 100k!”
“It gave me confidence too, seeing what the two boys were capable of all week. I just trusted them and we all knew it could have just easily have been them in yellow. The team were excellent as well and everyone in the Cycling Ireland setup did brilliant. Ken (soigneur), Tommy (mechanic) and Frank (manager) all did savage jobs. It’s those little bits in the background. They all deserve huge credit.”
But the man Dunbar reserved most credit of all for was his long-time coach, mentor and close friend Danny Curtin.
Curtin has produced some of the best riders in the last 20 years and Dunbar is just the latest in a long list of prodigies. And the two shared a sweet moment at the finish when they broke down in tears. For Eddie, it was a case of ‘doing it for Danny’.
“It’s a massive honour for me and for Kanturk Cycling Club but the man who made it happen is Danny. I did it for him. The hard work he has put into me in the last few months and years, he is unbelievable.”
“And it’s nice that I can give him something in return and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have been in the yellow jersey and I’m just lucky to have a coach like him.”
“I like winning races for him. I just try to make him happy. I’m proud of myself but when you make Danny smile at the end of a race you feel that extra bit prouder. The two of us saw each other at the finish today and we just burst into tears.”
“We went in with the frame of mind that we were going to win the yellow jersey no matter what or who was there; we’d do anything for it. And we did, thank God.”
Dunbar also thanked everyone for their kind words over the course of the week, something he was truly humbled by.
“I am, it’s unbelievable the amount of people who have congratulated me. It would take a while to thank them all individually but I’ll get around to it some day.”
