Team Sky update on Eddie Dunbar after Flèche Wallonne crash | Sticky Bottle

Eddie Dunbar rights himself after his crash at La Flèche Wallonne. He seems to have emerged from it relatively unscathed (Photo: Emmanuel Dubois)

Irish rider Eddie Dunbar was not among the finishers at La
Flèche Wallonne due to a crash but his team has said he has not long term
issues as a result of the fall.

Dunbar was among a group of fallers in an incident with
about 35km remaining in the 195km race.

It effectively ended his challenge and his ability to
work for the team. And while Dunbar abandoned shortly afterwards, he was able
to remount and continue up the Mur de Huy for a second passage of the climb.

As well as the crash taking out Dunbar, his team mate Michal
Golas also came down in the same spill.

And a third member of the team, Dylan van Baarle, was
also caught behind it and lost his place in the group as a result.

That was something of a treble whammy for Team Sky, with
much of the support for team leader Michal Kwiatkowski was wiped out in the
same incident, though Wout Poels was still available.

Dunbar was positioned close to the front of the group,
right beside world champion Alejandro Valverde, when he crashed.

The team said Kwiatkowski, who went on to finish 16th,
had used up too much energy on the early section of the final passage of Mur de
Huy.

“The team had been hampered by a crash earlier in
proceedings which had ruled out Eddie Dunbar and Michal Golas, though
fortunately both were unhurt,” the team said.

“Dylan van Baarle was also caught behind the incident ensuring
he could not make it back to the bunch to assist the leaders.

Lara Gillespie attacks Dolomite stage as Giro hits high mountains — Dunbar, bottom left, shows the signs of his crash; his jersey ripped from the impact but it was good to see him being able to continue, if only for a short period.

Video - Italy's hero Balsamo mobbed mid-stage during Giro TT — Dunbar, bottom left, shows the signs of his crash; his jersey ripped from the impact but it was good to see him being able to continue, if only for a short period.

Team Sky sport director
Gabriel Rasch said the crash had disrupted the team effort at a vital point in
the race.

“I think Kwiato used a little bit too much energy into
the bottom of the climb, but I think in general the guys did a good job today,” he said.

“They were all well together, it was a shame that Eddie
and Michal went down, and that crash meant we suddenly lost two guys, well
three really, as Dylan was caught behind the crash which meant that Wout and
Kwiato were left isolated.

"Then Kwiato was in the wind a little bit more than
he’d like on the final lap, but it was always going to be the way with reduced
numbers."

The team’s modest final result aside, it is a relief
Dunbar has emerged with no problems from the crash.

He has already spent five weeks on the sidelines this
season after a crash in Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta in February.

All going well, Eddie Dunbar is still expected to ride Liège-Bastogne-Liège this coming Sunday.