Sean Kelly has said he has been very impressed with the progress of young Irish riders Archie Ryan and Ben Healy so far this year and also believes the recent wins by Eddie Dunbar can be a game-changer for his career.
Dunbar has been beset with bad luck in the last couple of seasons – with Covid-19 late last year and several crashes before that – and his recent wins had come at the right time, said Kelly, who is leading the Migraine Ireland Cycle 2022 next month.
He added while Dunbar, who is out of contract this year, may move on from Ineos Grenadiers, it was not impossible he would opt to stay within the British team. It might significantly increase his salary following his GC victories at Coppi e Bartali in March and at the Tour de Hongrie the weekend before last.
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Kelly said he was watching on nervously when Dunbar won Coppi e Bartali, hoping he would finally take a victory. He added he was the same at the Tour de Hongrie, which came down to a nail-biting finish, where Dunbar was caught on the line and had to settle for 2nd on the final stage but still won the overall.
“I was just saying to myself ‘if you can get this win, this will be just such a major boost his confidence’,” Kelly said of watching Dunbar in the final stages of Coppi e Bartali when the biggest threat to him cane from his young team mate Ben Tulett, who was 2nd overall.
“When I met him (Dunbar) last year down in Cork on one occasion it just seemed to me that he was talking about crashes a lot. So I just said to him ‘look, we can all get a bad run of crashes, you can have a year when you crash three or four times in a number of months and then after that you can get a very good run’.
"Even if you have the best bike handling, sometimes these incidents can be purely bad luck; wrong place wrong time. So I think these race wins are major for him, especially for his confidence. And they will really stand to him now going forward for the rest of the year.”
Dunbar has been linked to both BikeExchange-Jayco and Jumbo Visma for next year and Kelly felt a move away from Ineos Grenadiers was likely, though not certain.
“I think if he gets the right offer from the right team, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he moved. Maybe he'd get more opportunities. With Ineos… a lot of the time you don't get many opportunities, you're always riding on the front in that domestique role.
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“But depending on what happens this year, when he’s now getting these good results, Ineos might put the money up and they might offer him something you just can't refuse.”
- You can enter the Migraine Ireland 50-100km Cycle 2022 in Wicklow on June 25th, which is being led by Sean Kelly, by following this link
When asked about Archie Ryan, Kelly said it was very obvious the 20-year-old from Co Wicklow had real talent and that Jumbo Visma had spotted it early and were keen to develop it.
“Jumbo-Visma have obviously seen something there they have been working with them closely,” said Kelly. “They've been working with them through injury and that really just confirms to you that they see big potential there.”
Kelly added the team had stuck by Ryan when last season was wiped out with an ACL injury and had helped him recover and gave him a contract very early for this year; something he said was a clear sign of the team’s desire to invest in the young Irish climber.
“He was due to ride a couple of races with with Jumbo Pro Tour team but Covid kept him out and that just confirms the level they believe he is at,” he added of Ryan being forced to miss Volta Limburg.
“If he can can get over that injury, and stay clear of the injury, then I think we're going to see good some good results from him this year. At that level, I know it's not Pro Tour, but even at top level in the under 23 ranks… When you get those injuries and you come back it's so difficult to get the big results and get your top shape back again. But the talent is there.”
On Ben Healy, Kelly said he had ridden so well with EF Education First-EasyPost, and had already proven so capable in his first season in the top tier, he would not be surprised to see him taking a victory this year.
“I think he is really really fitting in well and he's done that very quickly; getting in the breakaways and that's the way to do it. You need to get the race distance built up and try and get in those breakaways.
“This is the year of building for him and if you can just keep doing that, getting up the road, he could win a race. He has immediately been able to race, really race at this higher level. And he’s shown he’s not afraid like some guys. He's not afraid to go on the attack.”
