On the up: Irish junior road race champion Eddie Dunbar will ride for British squad NFTO next year after receiving offers from numerous squads (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
By Gerard Cromwell
After much speculation about where he would go in his first year as an U23 rider, prolific Cork-based junior Eddie Dunbar will ride for the British UCI Continental team NFTO next season.
Teenager Dunbar clocked up numerous victories at home and abroad this year, including two stage wins and overall victory at the NFTO-backed Junior Tour of Wales.
He also won the final yellow jersey at the Junior Tour of Ireland for the second time and having won the national time trial title last year he added the road crown this season.
In July Dunbar was runner up at the Trofeo Karlsberg Nations Cup stage race in Germany, beaten only by Slovenian teenager Kristjan Kumar. It has since emerged Kumar returned a positive test, for EPO, on the race.
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Dunbar's aggressive riding style and numerous victories meant his signature was much sought after by teams from Europe, the UK and even the US.
Sean Kelly's An Post Chainreaction team even hinted earlier in the year that they would change their race programme to suit him if Dunbar were to sign for them next year.
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And Rapha Condor JLT were also very interested in him.
The O'Leary's Stone Kanturk rider is expected to ride on both the UK and European circuits for NFTO next year.
It took its biggest victory at the RideLondon Classic in August when former BMC professional Adam Blythe outsprinted his former teammate Philippe Gilbert and a host of international stars to win the one day race.
After a successful season in the UK this year, Blythe moves to Aussie squad Orica GreenEDGE for next season while former Sky director sport Sean Yates will be replaced by Dave Povall in the NFTO team car next year.
Efforts by stickybottle to contact Dunbar were not successful.
On his way to Junior Tour of Ireland victory this year; it was the second time in two attempts he had won the race outright (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
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