Eddie Dunbar put in some fantastic performances this year and he is now in a team surrounded by star names. Above, leading the way at the National Road Championships in June in Co Kildare (Photo: Toby Watson)
Having won a stage in the Rás this year and continued to progress at a great rate despite some mishaps, Eddie Dunbar will once again ride for Axeon Hagens Berman next year.
The self-styled ‘world’s leading U23 development team’ has revealed a mouth-watering roster for next season, with Dunbar taking his place in a line-up of stars.
Dunbar was 9th in the U23 TT at the Worlds in October and was 6th in the Europeans against the watch a month earlier; two rides that suggest his progress has been massive in 2016.
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As well as his stage win in the Rás, he was also 4th overall and took a top 20 overall placing at the Tour of Utah.
He kept his season on the rails after a training mishap in the early season at home in Ireland when he crashed and broke his collarbone.
Still only aged 20-years-old, he will now look to capitalise after learning his craft with Axeon Hagens Berman over the past year.
“Our goal has always been to help the next generation of professional cyclists,” said team principal Axel Merckx.
“I am confident our returning riders will blend well with the promising new riders we have coming on board.”
Winning stage 7 of the Rás in May from Dungarvan to Baltinglass from a breakaway containing the best riders in the race (Photo: Ryan Byrne - Inpho)
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In all there are eight new riders and eight returning having been with the team this year.
Of those returning, Tour de Bretagne winner Adrien Costa is a stand-out name but he is by no means the only rider from the squad who looks destined for the top of the sport.
American U23 road and time trial champion Geoffrey Curran is also coming back as is U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Logan Owen and Amgen Tour of California best young rider and Tour de l'Avenir stage winner Neilson Powless.
And three other Americans complete the group of those returning to Axel Merckx’s outfit; Will Barta, Jonny Brown and Chad Young.
The new names are: Americans Edward Anderson, Christopher Blevins and Ian Garrison as well as Chris Lawless of Great Britain, U23 Ecuador TT champion Jhonnatan Narvaez, Portuguese twin brothers Ivo Oliveria and Rui Oliveria and Michael Rice of Australia.
Blevins this year won the Course de la Paix Juniors five-day Nations Cup stage race in the Czech Republic and was 4th in the MTB World Championships in July.
Garrison won bronze in the junior TT at the World Road Championships in Qatar and claimed a stage of the Tour de l'Abitibi Nations Cup in Canada in July.
Lawless is the reigning British national criterium champion and is a former national junior road race champion.
Narvaez is a three-time silver medalist in the Pan American junior road race and won the king of the mountains title at the Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc in June.
Of the Oliveira twins, Ivo won the individual pursuit at the 2014 Junior World Track Championships. Australian Rice was a stage winner at the Tour de Beauce.
The team will look to emulate its success this year when it won a record of 34 races and seven national titles, including Dunbar’s U23 TT Irish crown.
Three of its 2016 riders have signed for World Tour teams, bringing to 21 the number of riders who have progressed from the US-based Continental team to WorldTour level.
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