By Shane Stokes
It’s taken four years but now, finally, Eddie Dunbar is back at a Grand Tour and raring to go. When the Giro d’Italia gets underway in Fossacesia Marina on Saturday the Corkman has the first real chance of his career to prove what he can do over three weeks.
No pre-race obligation to ride for others, as was the case in the 2019 Giro. No holding back. He’s all in, fully committed, eyes set on the best result he can get.
“I think going off Romandie, going off the way I was feeling, if all the stars align and everything goes my way, I think [top ten] is definitely a realistic ambition at the end of three weeks in Italy,” Dunbar told Stickybottle this week.
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Dunbar lines out in the race with his confidence boosted by the Tour of Romandie. Ninth overall there is solid rather than spectacular, but in the context of what he has dealt with, it’s a big boost. Consider his season: a crash and a hand fracture on his very first day of competition. A long block of time unable to train on the road. An operation five weeks after the fall to help the damaged bone to recover. And, ultimately, two full months away from racing.
Since then he’s done 12 days of competition, getting what he called reporters ‘a good kicking’ in the Itzulia Basque Country, and then logging that top ten overall finish in the Tour de Romandie.
It’s not the ideal preparation, but he’s done what he can. “I am definitely under-raced going in [to the Giro],” he said. “But we’ve made the best of that situation in the last few weeks, getting Basque in the legs, getting Romandie in the legs. I think it’s as good a place as I can be going into it.”
‘I got a good block in…a solid few weeks’
Dunbar and his coach Alex Camier have had to do a lot of improvising this year, adapting to things after his crash and trying to limit time lost when he couldn’t train on the road. He’s already detailed his training routine to us while injured and this week explained what he and Camier did to move things on after his 72nd overall in the Itzulia Basque Country.
“Basque was obviously a pretty hard race, raced really hard,” he said. “Anyone who knows it knows it is probably one of the hardest one week races of the year. So getting that in the legs, and as my first race as well…by going into it somewhat fresh from racing, I absorbed it fairly good. I had a couple of days rest after and then Alex came out Monaco and I did a good block of training with him here.
“He had a scooter so we were able to get a good block in. We did a bit of motor pacing, just to stay fresh, and to try catch up a little bit on the rest of the guys who have a bit more racing in their legs than I do. I think that helped a lot going into Romandie.”
Giro favourites such as Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) spent blocks of time at altitude in Tenerife in the buildup to the race. Dunbar has chosen not to go on such camps, but rather to do things in a slightly different way.
“That time I was on the turbo indoors, I was in the altitude tent for three weeks,” he said. “Then I went back home to Ireland for a block. I did Basque and from Basque to Romandie I was back in the altitude tent. I ticked the boxes that way. I didn’t see the point really in going out somewhere to altitude when I felt like I needed to train low and just get speed in my legs. I still got the benefit of sleeping in the tent. It was good, it worked out well in the end, I think.
“I have plenty of mountains here in Monaco. There’s no flat here. There’s no shortage of climbing. You have the Col de Turini, Col de Madone, Col de Brouis. They are all long enough climbs to be training on. Like I said, I got a good block in with Alex. It was it was a solid few weeks.”
Coming good in Romandie
Dunbar headed into Romandie looking for improvement, and that’s what he found. Things started off relatively quietly with a 70th place finish in the opening prologue, after which he moved up in the general classification each day. Stage three was an 18.75 kilometre time trial and he was a solid 35th, encouraging for a lightweight climber, and then two days later he ended up ninth on the summit finish of Thyon 2000.
That put him ninth overall, a result and a race experience he is satisfied with.
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“I just wanted to go in and improve on Basque,” he explained. “Just go into it with a good feeling and come out of it with a better feeling. And obviously help Simon [Yates] get up there in the overall. That was the plan with the team we had there. He was then sick the first day and opportunities opened up for everyone then to go into breakaways.
“For me, I put my hand up and said, ‘I have no problem riding GC for the rest of the week, just to test myself.’ In the end it went very well. My TTs were solid, they weren’t disastrous. Obviously the long TT had that tricky descent to the finish, that fast descent. I didn’t take too chances on that. There was no need to risk a descent for ten seconds when you have a three week racing coming up. So I think I rode a good TT there.
“And the mountain stage was good. I got the boys on the front and just tested myself to see where I was at. It was a solid, solid day for everyone. In the end I think I was 50 seconds off Adam [Yates] in the final. Not too far off the pace, in terms of climbing. I’m maybe not as far off the pace as I thought I was, but I’ll find out quick enough in the Giro.”
The most important thing is that he believes he’s done all he can to be ready for his big season target. Breaking his hand wasn’t ideal, but he’s made the most of the situation.
“I’ve ticked all the boxes in terms of training. I’ve got that block at altitude in. It’s obviously a bit of an unknown as to where I’m going to end up in a three week race. But as I said, I’ve done the work. It’s just about seeing where we go from here.”
One eye on the Giro, one eye on the future
The Giro d’Italia begins on Saturday with an opening time trial between Fossacesia Marina and Ortona. It’s a flat, fast 19.6 kilometre course that seems perfectly suited to the likes of Roglic and Evenepoel. Dunbar will lose time to the specialists there, but the race offers plenty of hills in the opening week to move him up the general classification.
His priorities will be to stay clear of crashes and illness, limit time losses early on, and to hope the disruptions of the early season and his lighter-than-intended buildup will see him gain strength as the race goes on.
Back in March, he told Sticky Bottle that he felt the nature of the route could play to his advantage. “It is a Giro where every week it is getting progressively harder,” he said then. “Looking at it, it is one where a guy might be able to ride into it. I think that third week is going to be important, so as long as I can get there in good shape, I think it’ll make a difference.”
Weighing things up this week, he reiterates that’s the plan. “I am going in undercooked. If it gets to a point where I might have to change the plan and go for stages, that’s okay. But I’m confident I can ride GC, and hopeful I can be at that pointy end of things by the end of the three weeks.”
What’s important to keep in mind is that this is just his second Grand Tour. It’s also the first year where he is officially a protected rider. He’s 26 years of age now but is still learning, still gaining experience, still becoming a leader.
This Giro will be a goal in itself, but it is also a stepping stone to chasing podium finishes in future Grand Tours. A big result would be very encouraging, but it’s not vital. What’s more important is to learn the trade, grow as a GC contender, and catch up on the time he lost out while riding for others at Team Sky/Ineos Grenadiers.
“Part of this is learning how to be vocal,” he explained, when asked what he needs to do to step things up. “Getting the guys to understand how I like to race and, vice versa, to know how they like to race. I haven’t got to race with as many of them this year as was originally planned, but things will hopefully click after a few days and we get a good understanding of each other.
“Literally all I can do now is let the road decide and see what happens in the Giro. See whether other teams take the race on, whether we take the race on. Stuff like that. You just have to wait and see. The only thing out of my control at the moment is how other people want to race. I’ve done everything I can controlling the lead up.”
Now it’s time to push for the best result he can achieve. Bigger picture, this is the first step in a multi-step process, a campaign he knows will improve all his future campaigns.
It’s a goal, but also a means to an end.
“I’ll know a lot more at the end of three weeks, in terms of how I need to improve, how I need to get better.”
