Looks like Eddie Dunbar's in the right place; take a look at this

One glance at this photo and the incredible success of manager Axel Merckx confirms Irish star Eddie Dunbar is in the right place for 2016 (Photo: Davey Wilson)

Anyone who has had even a passing interest in stickybottle in recent years will know Eddie Dunbar’s name.

Now a second-year U23 rider, Dunbar was the best junior in the country in 2013 and 2014.

He won the Junior Tour of Ireland twice, was road race and time trial national champion and claimed a huge number of races on the domestic calendar.

And while a medal at a major international championships eluded him, he has ridden very well at the Europeans, Worlds and the European Games last year.

Dunbar also has a Junior Nations Cup win to his name; finishing 2nd in the Trofeo Karlsberg only for the winner to test positive for EPO.

Last year Dunbar rode mainly on the UK scene, with the NFTO Pro Cycling Team. And for this year he has move on to the US team Axeon; a Continental-ranked squad run by Axel Merckx.

Merckx has a very handy knack of bringing riders on in their development and moving them on to great things.

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But it’s not until you see the photo above that you realise just how good a place Dunbar is in this year towards developing and moving on to the next level.

Merckx is pictured with some of his riders from last year, as well as a sprinkling of those he has helped to shape.

The very impressive list includes: Gavin Mannion, Joe Dombrowski, Taylor Phinney, Tim Roe, Tanner Putt, Julian Kyer, Ruben Zepuntke, and Ben King.

In total, one third of the 54 riders Merckx has had in his team since its inception in 2009 have gone on to WorldTour level.

Among those not in this photo who have progressed from Axeon to some of the biggest teams in the world are: Ian Boswell ( Team Sky), Alex Dowsett (Movistar), Jasper Stuyven and Jesse Sergent (Trek Factory Racing), Carter Jones and Lawson Craddock (Giant-Alpecin) as well as Ben King, Nate Brown, and Ruben Zepuntke of Cannondale.