Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) has lost more time on stage 4 of La Vuelta, some 24 hours after faltering on the first uphill finish of the race into Andorra. Though today's stage unfolded on much easier terrain, ending in a bunch sprint, Dunbar was distanced in the finale.
The 184.6km stage from Andorra la Vella to Tarragona may have been won by sprinter Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) but there was plenty of activity out the back door of the bunch, with lots of riders distanced and others finding themselves on the wrong side of splits in the final.
However, unlike yesterday, all of the genuine contenders for the top 10 on general classification - except Dunbar - were in the front group; 50 men credited with the same time was winner Groves. While that was a disappointing outcome for the Irish rider, all is not lost and now a very interesting, if unexpected, dynamic is set up for Dunbar, involving personal and team pressure.
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He shed 1:33 today, to add to the 2:37 he lost yesterday, and now trails general classification leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) by 5:05, down in 42nd place. While that undermines Dunbar's plan to aim for the top 10 overall, it sets him up to go on the attack.
As the leader of his Jayco AlUla team, Dunbar will be under pressure - from himself and his team - to make his mark on this race. And that means he must now go up the road, where any successful breakaway day may result in pulling back time and putting him in the mix for a stage win.
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However, the big question is whether he can find his legs, and do so quickly. He is now still in the aftermath of his double crash on the opening stage TTT in Barcelona on Saturday. And one hopes, once he has properly put those spills behind him, he can come out swinging.
Dunbar finished in 117th today as Grove was up ahead, coming through with a late surge of speed to overhaul Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates). The Colombian went for an early flier but was beaten into 2nd place by Groves, who was much faster. Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) was 3rd.
Evenepoel continues to lead the race ahead of tomorrow's stage 5, some 186.2km over bumpy, though not brutal, terrain from Morella to Burriana. The Belgian has five seconds in hand over Enric Mas (Team Movistar), with highly fancied French 20-year-old Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) in 3rd at 20 seconds.
