By Shane Stokes
Sean Kelly has spoken about a
change of direction for Eddie Dunbar, saying that an expected switch in teams
for 2023 will open up greater opportunities for the Corkman, as well as
heightened expectations.
The website VeloNews reported
this week that Dunbar will change from Ineos Grenadiers to BikeExchange-Jayco.
Kelly previously commented on the rumoured switch to the Australian squad,
saying that it could be a very good fit for the climbing specialist and better
than the other team he had been connected with, Jumbo-Visma.
“Bike Exchange would be the one
I’d be more going to because there are a lot of English speakers there,” he
said. “The team is English speaking. And I think when you look at the roster of
riders they have, he’s going to get more opportunities there that he would get
in Jumbo-Visma.
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“When you talk about the bigger Tours, when you talk about Paris-Nice or the Pays Basques and then you go to the three weekers, there is always somebody there [at Jumbo-Visma] that is maybe a bit higher ranking. And then it becomes a situation where he is going to be a domestique again. With Bike Exchange, I think there are much more opportunities.”
- 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
Dunbar made a breakthrough this season in winning both the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali and the Tour de Hongrie. The stage race victories marked his first wins as a pro, and were a confirmation of the promise he has shown over the years.
Kelly said that those two
victories would do much to add momentum to his career. “The confidence is going
to be a big one for him. Wherever he goes now with the team, the expectation
will be that he is going to win some of these stage races, like a Pays Basques,
a Tour of Catalunya. Those sort of races are I think the ones he should be
targeting now going forward.”
Dunbar has said since a young age
that he wanted to aim for the general classification in the Tour de France.
Does Kelly believe he can become a Grand Tour contender?
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He said it is possible, but that
there is a logical progression to aim for first.
“The way I look at it always is
first of all you have to win a Pays Basques, or be really challenging to win..
Of course, if you are challenging a guy like Roglic and you finish second to
Roglic, well then… The next step, the Tour of Switzerland is another one. If
you can really win them or be pushing the guy who is winning and getting on the
podium, then you become a Grand Tour contender.
“He has a few more years left to
do that, because age-wise I think he has time on his side.”
In ways Dunbar’s strengths are
similar to those of Dan Martin; a strong climber, a born attacker, and someone
with an unexpectedly fast finish from a small group. Could he, like Martin,
become a rider for the Ardennes Classics?
“I don’t know,” Kelly answered.
“I think the Liège Classic and those ones are gone too aggressive for him. That
style of race…I don’t think he is prepared to fight up there, when you get to
the key points in the race. I don’t think he would really want to do that.”
Asked to clarify what he meant by
the word fight, Kelly confirmed that he was referring to pushing and shoving
for position. “You see this year in Liège there were so many people up there
fighting to keep the leaders up there. You have these big guys and they cause
so many problems and crashes.
“I’d say his target would be
these stage races, these week long races. And when he goes to the three weekers,
in the beginning he can probably win good stages, and show that he can be
really competitive over the three weeks. And more so into the third week, if he
can be there. He did show a lot of ability already in Switzerland last year, he
was excellent.”
Dunbar is not scheduled to do the Tour de France, but will hope to compete in the Vuelta a España. He is due to contest this week’s national road race championships. The 25 year old is on the start list for the time trial on Thursday and will be one of the favourites for the elite road race on Sunday.
