Eddie Dunbar has not had the smoothest ride to this weekend's Giro d'Italia start, where the Irishman will need to be on his toes from the outset. Outright favourite for the final maglia rosa this year, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), is expected to come out swinging.
The Slovenian could inflict fatal damage to the chances of some general classification hopefuls as early as both Saturday and Sunday before those rivals have had time to find their legs. The final climb on Sunday - the 11.8km Santuario di Oropa, at 6.2 per cent gradient - is not one of the legendary ascents of the Giro, but it is still hard enough to do serious damage if Pogačar fancies it.
Dunbar's lack of recent form is perhaps a concern given the need for sharpness so early in this year's race. But the Irishman has both Itzulia Basque Country (2.UWT) and Tour de Romandie (2.UWT) in his legs over the last month.
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And as the start of the three-week race approaches this weekend, Dunbar is bullish about his chances. He has said he is firmly counting himself into "fighting" in the general classification battle 12 months on from his 7th place overall.
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“I’m looking forward to returning to the Giro and trying to repeat, if not improve last year’s good result," he said, even though his race programme this year was interrupted by two racing crashes in February; at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.Pro) and UAE Tour (2.UWT).
"My preparation has been pretty ok, maybe not quite as well as last year but it will be nice to go back to the Giro fighting again. This year’s course is very tough right from the start, the first two stages will probably be two GC days.
"So you have to be ready from the very beginning. This year there will also be some gravel roads, the classic long alpine climbs and two challenging time trials. Basically, the usual hard and demanding Giro.”
