Eddie Dunbar leads the breakaway on the fourth stage of the Tour of Utah, when he also moved up overall.
After riding very strongly on the climbs of stage 3 at the Tour of Utah on Wednesday, Eddie Dunbar put in a fantastic performance yesterday on stage 4 to Kearns.
The Irish international competing for US-based Axeon Hagens Berman moved clear in the breakaway that would animate the stage.
It escaped after about 20km and was not recaptured by the peloton until very late in the day.
On paper the stage was not one that favoured climber Dunbar as it was a flat course, taking the riders on an usual route of 2½ laps of 46km on a highway between the towns of Lehi to Kearns.
And after that portion of the 154km stage was completed, the racing moved to three finishing circuits of 6.4km in Kearns.
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It was not until those laps that the breakaway - which had split in two under pressure applied by 19-year-old Dunbar - was caught.
Their recapture paved the way for a bunch finish won by Travis McCabe of Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team, with Dunbar and fellow Irishman Stephen Clancy (Novo Nordisk) both coming home in the 65-man peloton.
Dunbar said after the stage that he did not intend to go in the breakaway. "I was just on the right wheel at the right time," he said.
"I noticed that all the other American continental teams were represented. I thought it would be good to have someone in there for our sponsors.
"Near the end, the coordination between the riders wasn't that great."
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Up the road with Dunbar were Matthew Busche (Unitedhealthcare), Nicolae Tanovitchii (Lupus Racing), Hayden McCormick (One ProCycling), Joe Lewis (Holowesko-Citadel), Danny Pate (Rally Cycling), Nicola Bagioli (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Luis Amaran (Team Jamis).
They had a gap of almost three minutes with 50km completed but were never let get any further ahead.
And as their advantage gradually came down and was closing in on one minute with 30km remaining the eight up front split.
Four men were left to continue the escape; Dunbar, Pate, Busche and McCormick.
But they were finally caught with just over 11km remaining due to the constant chase effort by some of the sprinters' teams in the peloton.
However, with the peloton becoming depleted Dunbar managed to move up the general classification; from 25th to 20th.
He seems in fantastic condition and looks set now for a strong concluding few days in Utah.
He can hopefully sustain that effort for the next couple of months which include the U23 races at the Europeans and World Championships.
Always tipped for big things, it appears he is well inside his comfort zone mixing it with significant opposition, including WorldTour teams, in what is an international race with a UCI 2.HC grading.
Stage 4: Lehi to Kearns (154km)
1 Travis McCabe (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 3:23:47
2 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
3 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Jamis
4 Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
5 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling
6 Colin Joyce (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
7 Daniel Jaramillo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
8 Jacob Rathe (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
9 Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team
10 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac
11 Logan Owen (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman
12 Dion Smith (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
13 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
14 Kristofer Dahl (Can) Silber Pro Cycling
15 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) BMC Racing Team
60 Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Axeon Hagens Berman
65 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
General Classification
1 Lachlan David Morton (Aus) Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis 14:54:40
2 Adrien Costa (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:00:07
3 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:09
4 Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing Team 0:01:32
5 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
6 Rob Britton (Can) Rally Cycling
7 Taylor Eisenhart (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:34
8 Robin Carpenter (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team 0:01:44
9 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:01
10 Neilson Powless (USA) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:04:07
11 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
12 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
13 Robbie Squire (USA) Holowesko-Citadel Racing Team
14 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team
15 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Axeon Hagens Berman
16 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
17 Joe Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
18 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
19 Nicolae Tanovitchii (Mda) Lupus Racing Team 0:06:04
20 Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Axeon Hagens Berman 0:06:06
104 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 0:42:22
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