Eddie Dunbar, in his new junior national champion's jersey, storming home to win the opening stage of the Charleville Two Day (Photo: www.jimmymcelroy.com)
By Brian Canty
Recently crowned national junior road race champion, Eddie Dunbar (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk CC) has stormed to another solo victory on stage one of the Charleville Two-Day in Co Cork this afternoon.
The double Junior Tour of Ireland champion jumped away from his four breakaway companions in the final kilometres of today’s opening 86-kilometre trek and had a margin of around 20 seconds on those by the end, with the bunch just under a minute further back.
Dunbar has racked up an enormous tally of wins this year so far with many coming in very similar fashion to today.
He successfully made his way into the early break but they only had around 20 seconds on the chasing bunch behind when the latter went the wrong way and by the time they realised their mistake, the gap to those ahead had swelled to almost a minute.
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The race was three laps of a 25-kilometre loop, with around five kilometres before and after that lap. And it was on the second lap that the break became whittled down to seven riders.
Irish junior international Stephen Shanahan was in the escape again, but had to be content with runner-up spot behind Dunbar.
The men present in the move were Dunbar’s Irish team mates Daire Feeley (Donamon Dynamos), Stephen Shanahan (Limerick CC), as well as Mark O’Callaghan (Limerick CC), Keith Wall (Navan RC), and the UCD CC duo of Paul O’Reilly and Joseph Breheny.
That seven worked very well together and on the lumpy circuit it was unsurprising to see their lead extend to over a minute.
But Dunbar was not content to stay where he was, and opted to take flight on the punishing drag into Dromina.
It was there that seven became five when Wall and O’Callaghan dropped off the back and were absorbed by the bunch, where they would remain for the rest of the race.
That left five up front and UCD were surely thinking of an upset with O’Reilly and Breheny riding extremely well with the best juniors in the country.
Dunbar spent a short time out front by himself as the four chasers co-operated to reel him in. But the effort took its toll on O’Reilly and he was next to get distanced.
A rider whose name has cropped up again and again this season, Joseph Breheny of UCD mixed it up off the front today (Photo: Sean Rowe)
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Approaching the finish, Dunbar attacked from the group again on the drag in Milford and got away.
He quickly built a lead on what was now just three chasers – Breheny, Shanahan and Feeley.
Dunbar had 55 seconds at one point but on the long flat headwind section approaching the finish the gap began to tumble, though he still had plenty of time to celebrate another marvellous win.
Shanahan was second over the line with Feeley taking third from Breheny.
Russell Treacy (St Finbarr’s) led home the bunch for fifth, just pipping Irish international Thomas Fallon, who made a welcome return to racing after an injury-hit season.
In the A4 race, 50-year-old Eoin Delaney of the Lucan CRC team upstaged his younger adversaries with a brilliant bunch sprint win.
We’ll have full results and further coverage of both the A2-A3 and separate A4 race later.
A2-A3 Race Stage 1
Brief Results
1 Eddie Dunbar (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk CC)
2 Stephen Shanahan (Limerick CC
3 Daire Feeley (Donamon Dynamos)
4 Joseph Breheny (UCD CC)
5 Russell Treacy (St Finbarr’s)
6 Thomas Fallon (Vacansoleil)
A4 Race
1 Eoin Delaney (Lucan CRC)
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