Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) has ended La Vuelta, the race of his life, in 11th place overall after the final stage in Madrid yesterday. It was the third Grand Tour finish of Dunbar's career after last year's Giro - where he was 7th overall - and his 2019 debut in that race.
Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), who was making his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta, said before the race his goal was twofold; to help team leader Richard Carapaz and also to make it all the way to Madrid.
Rafferty, who turned 21-years-old in July, worked hard through the race for Carapaz, including going in breakaways in a bid to act as satellite rider the Ecuadorian on stages he was trying to get away from the other big names. And the Co Tyrone rider also completed the race; a major step forward in his career, especially with an eye on next season.
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But while Rafferty can be very happy with his selection for the event, and his performance in it, the Vuelta was perhaps lifechanging for Dunbar, who claimed two fantastic wins on stages 11 and stage 20.
But just as importantly, Dunbar really demonstrated he is a man for a three-week race. His climbing was below the level he hoped for in the opening week, but he looked one of the very strongest in the race in the third week, a crucial ability for a World Tour team leader with designs on Grand Tour GC.
And though his stage 11 victory, from a breakaway, was the perhaps the most exciting part of the race from an Irish perspective - as the Corkman finally got the big success he always threatened - his stage 20 win was in a different league.
He attacked from the select group with 5km to go on Picón Blanco, catching and dropping solo leader Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) and then holding off the general classification men for a famous win. His ride that day moves Dunbar up the pecking order in pro cycling, to level he would have been at long before now but for his crashes over the last few seasons.
Dunbar turned 28-years during the Vuelta and could have at least five more seasons of peaks years ahead of him. His Vuelta success can now redefine his career going forward, hopefully bringing more opportunities and bigger contracts. It will also be very interesting to see if he can recover from La Vuelta and go on and take more success before this season ends.
Yesterday on the final stage - a 24.6km TT in Madrid - Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) won the day and it was, incredibly, the Swiss rider's first ever Grand Tour win.
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Race leader Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) was 2nd, some 31 seconds down, while Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step) was 3rd, at 41 seconds.
Dunbar, riding in his Irish TT champion's kit, finished in 30th at 1:55. In truth, he really had nothing to ride for yesterday. The gaps to the riders ahead of him on GC, and behind, were so big before the TT that, barring major incident, there was never going to be any change.
The Irishman held 11th overall - just outside that coveted Grand Tour top 10 finish - at 14:40. But the stage wins wipe away any sense of GC disappointment. One stage win, never mind the two Dunbar took, represents a much better yield from the race than a place towards the bottom of the top 10.
Rafferty finished in 64th yesterday, at 2:52, and ended the race 75th overall. However, the fact he was selected, finished and performed very strongly in between is a huge boost for him.
Overall, Roglič won the race outright by 2:36 from long-term leader Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) with Enric Mas (Movistar) 3rd at 3:13 while Carapaz was 4th at 4:02.
? A super speedy TT circuit in the centre of Madrid
? Lots of parties in the peloton tonight not only for results, but birthdays and retirements
? Stefan Küng storms to victory in the city
❤️ Roglic takes his 4th La Vuelta GC?️ Watch the recap of 2⃣1️⃣ #LaVuelta24 pic.twitter.com/U4YjVhZbkb
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 8, 2024
