Eddie Dunbar was already set to come out of Vuelta 2024 with a lot to show for his efforts; his stage 11 win and a very strong general classification ride getting him back on track after being hit by a series of crashes over the last couple of years.
But today on the climb of Picón Blanco it is no exaggeration to say he became one of the greats of Irish cycling. His performance, riding away from the general classification group was a throwback to the Kelly-Roche era and the best of days Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche produced during their careers.
Any Grand Tour stage win is huge, especially for the Irish as they don't come around too often. But today's performance confirms Dunbar's talent - his ability to go up against the best on a hard mountain and beat them. Very few riders can do it.
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And the quality of his victory - as second in 10 days for a rider so often cursed with bad luck - was not wasted in Dunbar, though it was clear after the stage he was not as surprised by this victory as perhaps he was at the end of stage 11.
“I said to a few people after the stage win last week that it was never the way I expected to win a Grand Tour stage," he said. "I always imagined winning on top of a climb, whether it was from a breakaway or the GC group.
"I just felt good that second part today and I backed myself on that climb and paced myself really well. I knew this climb from a few years ago, we did it in Burgos in 2020. I knew there were parts that were steep, and then it leveled out and it was different to what it showed in the profile.
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"So I just paced it, I rode the steep parts pretty hard. I rode the flat bits conservatively to make sure I still had enough left in the tank."
And though he was surrounded by the best GC men in the race, and some of their team mates, it was clear Dunbar had ridden a final climb as astute as it was classy. Having tried to some earlier attacks, he backed off and played the waiting game until the time was right with 5km to go.
"At first, when Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) went on the climb I saw nobody reacted and then I tried to follow," he said. "I noticed Bora kinda chased then. So then I just thought 'right, there's no point wasting bullets on a climb like this when you've Picón Blanco to come'.
“I’m 12 minutes down on GC, I knew I’d get a bit of leeway, I think they gave me that. But I’m just super happy that I could hold on today. The guys did a super job the last few days keeping me out of trouble. They really backed me and we only have five guys here finishing the Vuelta but they all rode superbly."
Dunbar shot down the idea that this Vuelta was the real start of his career, saying while he had had bad times on the bike, he'd also had good times and that was normal.
"It's all part of the process, I think. and there's going to be more ups and there's going to be more downs, and that's just the way life is. And I've learned that throughout my career.
"Moments like this don’t come around too often. I’ve had two of them now in the last two weeks and I’m just looking forward to sharing these moments and celebrating them with friends and family."
