Eddie Dunbar in the climbers' jersey on the attack in stage 2 of the Junior Tour of Ireland, which he went on to win this summer. He sounds bullish ahead of the Junior World Road Race Championships tomorrow, Saturday, in Florence (www.blackumbrella.ie)
Eddie Dunbar will realise a dream tomorrow, Saturday, when he lines out in Florence, Italy, as part of the three-man Irish team for the UCI Junior World Road Race Championships.
Dunbar, aged 17 years, will be partnered by fellow Corkman Dylan Foley and Co Down rising star Mark Downey for the 140-kilometre race against the most talented U18 cyclists in the world.
Remarkably, Dunbar is eligible to race again next year. But he’s not thinking about that because in a sport as cruel as cycling, where ill-timed luck and illness are commonplace, he knows he must make the most of the chance he has.
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And he’s determined to do himself and his club, O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk, proud.
“It will be a very tough race but the three of us are looking forward to it,” he enthused.
“It’s a very strong team with Dylan and Mark and they’ll be great teammates in helping me get to the front of the peloton, hopefully we can stay there as long as we can and who knows what can happen,” he added.
The course in Florence is extremely hilly and suits the lightweight climber – which Dunbar is. The first half of the race is relatively flat, but the second half will see the riders race five laps of a 16.6 kilometre loop, which features two punishing climbs each time.
Little wonder Dunbar has been excused from his Leaving Cert class in Scoil Treasa in Kanturk “the odd day” to get some extra training in.
“The principal has been very understanding and I must thank him for that,” said Dunbar.
“The training to be able to compete at this level isn’t easy and I’ve mainly been doing hill-work the last while; like hill climbing out of the saddle.”
“It will be won and lost on the climbs in Florence on Saturday and the racing won’t start until the finishing circuit. The strong men will come to the front, maybe around 15 or 20 riders coming to the line. And I really want to be there, though I know it’s going to be very hard.”
He already has plenty of experience racing in an Irish jersey this year, and as well as winning the prestigious Junior Tour title in June, he rode the European Championships in the Czech Republic. The latter, he said, taught him a lot about where he stands in the grand scheme of things.
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“That was quite an experience alright,” he told stickybottle.
“There was a good few crashes. I crashed twice, once at the very start and I had to run up the cobbled climb three times because some guy kept falling off in front of me because he couldn’t pedal up it was so steep.”
“I had no confidence in positioning that day either, it was shocking. You can’t compare it to races in Ireland because it’s easy to ride the peloton ay home. You could start at the back and be at the front in 30 seconds whereas out here, if you started at the back you’re staying there. It’s a completely different story.”
“You had to ride as hard as you can to get up the front, I spent most of my time chasing there,” he added of the Europeans.
“I’d be at the back because I was scared after crashing and then I’d have to chase to catch them if they went away up the road. But that took its toll on the last lap and I had nothing left when it came to the finish.”
“I did manage to finish 26th, which was a good result. But I could have been better, with more experience. I was still delighted to be in there with the best in Europe though."
Saturday 28th September:
Junior Men Road Race 139.65km
Starts at 8:30am local time, 7:30am Irish time
The race will take the riders 57.2km from Montecatini Terme into Florence and once in Florence they will then negotiate five laps of a 16.6km course with a tough climb each lap.
Eddie Dunbar Dylan Foley Mark Downey
Here’s the route profile for the junior race:
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