Eddie Dunbar, in dark blue, of Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team is back racing again and told stickybottle he's determined to finish the year strongly after a nightmare 48 hours in March put a huge hole in his year
Eddie Dunbar won't exactly be carried on the shoulders of the locals in his native Banteer after his 15th place overall at the Sibiu Cycling Tour (2.1). But he went to the Romania looking for a new start, after his double crash nightmare in March and seven weeks in an ankle boot. And a new start is what he got.
"I was seeing an ankle specialist in Kilkenny and he made it fairly clear that an extra week or two in the boot could make a big difference to how the end of the season looked," Dunbar told stickybottle in an interview setting out the past few months and his future plans.
"He said I could wear it for an extra two weeks and be safe, make sure there's no complications. Or you could come out of it a bit early and you just don't know if the bone has healed properly."
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He said seven weeks in a boot, especially for a pro cyclist during the season, was a very long time - "you only have three weeks of an off-season in winter". But he stuck with the medical advice.
There was no rush back to training. He'd stay in the boot for the full seven weeks. And when he came out of in May, he felt the benefit.
Dunbar (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) was able to load the ankle with more force than he expected in rehab and training, with his condition improving rapidly.
And so an expected return to racing after the Tour de France - probably at Vuelta a Burgos or the Clásica de San Sebastián - was brought forward to Sibiu Cycling Tour.
He went in to test himself, to get stronger and to help his Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling team mates, saying he wanted to give something to the other riders, do all he could. In the end, that meant helping Mark Donovan to 3rd overall.
Ireland's Eddie Dunbar, riding for Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, in the middle of the group at last week's Sibiu Cycling Tour in Romania
Dunbar went into the four-stage race with "no expectations" for himself and, having completed it in 15th, he is back at it, finally.
"My goal is the Vuelta," he said of the Spanish Grand Tour starting in Monaco, where he lives, on August 22nd. "That's a realistic target, to be in good shape and get myself ready for that.
"I'll do San Sebastián, Burgos. And those races will bring me up a level, which I probably need at that time of year before the Vuelta."
He added he always performed better at Grand Tours, when the peloton was fatigued. He also won two stages at the Vuelta, in 2024, and finished 11th overall "having forgotten about the general classification" after a subdued opening phase of the race.
"Even last year... I was getting stronger through the race, even though I didn't have that good a preparation after the crash in the Tour. And I was confident that, if the circumstances worked out from me, I might be able to win a stage.
"So that's a good mindset to have in a race like that... that you may be able to win from any scenario, whether it's on the top of a hill or from a breakaway."
Dunbar rode away from the GC group at the Vuelta in 2024 on the queen stage summit finish of Picón Blanco. His hopes are now pinned on this year's race (Photo: Cxcling)
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Right now, he said the team's plans had not been set in terms of riding for GC or for stage wins. But the 2024 Vuelta had confirmed to him that a strong GC result could come about as a byproduct of going for stages, and riding strongly chasing a stage - even if it was a little frustrating to finish 11th rather that nudging into the top 10.
"And there is a difference in this day and age between being 11th and 10th in a Grand Tour," he said. "But I'd prefer to finish 11th and have two stage wins rather than be 10th and have none. And the Vuelta opened by eyes to that.
"And you're winning something as well, of course. And I enjoyed that aspect, as any rider would. So I think we will go in to the Vuelta with an open mind there.
"I'll probably go in with a GC in mind. But I'm not worried if that goes after three or four days because there might be better opportunities."
"I am motivated now"
After the Vuelta, he would probably go on to the one-day races in Italy, including Il Lombardia.
"You might have an off day there some days, and then the next day you're absolutely flying," he said of the end of season Italian one days. "So it's a nice way to finish off the season
"Lombardy is a race I love, it's my favourite race. I love going back there every year. But I still haven't managed to crack it and get a proper result there."
For now, he said he was unsure about going to Canada for the Worlds in late September.
"Ben (Healy) will obviously go there and target a result. And there's a good group of riders there now that can go and support him,” he said.
"One day racing it's really something I haven't been able to crack. It frustrates me a little bit, but I just kind of accept it now, that the stage racing is where I perform best. I perform better under fatigue than some other riders do."
Overall, Dunbar said the two crash incidents in March were very frustrating. On stage 2 at Paris Nice he missed a crash ahead of him as he managed to stop in the road as a lot of riders fell. But as he was stopped, he was hit from behind and was slammed into his stem, breaking a rib.
Though he finished that day and rode the TTT the following day, he then abandoned and went home to Monaco. A day after he got back, as he was out on his city bike, a motorcyclist darted out of a side road and hit him, crushing his ankle.
But he now just wants to move on and make the most of the next few months. He would dearly love to reproduce the form that secured him 7th overall at the 2023 Giro - a race he was targeting this year but missed - and two stage wins at the 2024 Vuelta.
"I am motivated now, and I'm training well. I just need to go and get some results, that's going to be important, to finish the year strong
"I will try and make up what I've missed out on over the last few months. I missed the Giro as well, that's frustrating.
“But there's always a silver lining somewhere, and I just have to find it. At least I am fresh, and that counts for something in cycling in this day and age."
