Eddie Dunbar attacks Tour de Suisse stage 2: The Irish rider was attacking as the bunch was splitting. But it was the world champion who took the stage in a sprint from a reduced peloton (Photo: TdS)

Eddie Dunbar attacks on Tour de Suisse stage 2

In his first WorldTour stage race, Eddie Dunbar has enjoyed a strong ride on the opening road stage of the Tour de Suisse today.

The lumpy terrain spilt the field, with a bunch of just 60 riders remaining at the end of the 155km stage in Frauenfeld.

Dunbar was in that group, placing 31^st and having the confidence to join some of the attacks late in the race.

Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) claimed victory in the bunch sprint from Fernando Gaviria (QuickStep). Nathan Haas (Katusha Alpecin) completed the podium.

The contest consisted of four circuits of an undulating 38km course. Dunbar wasn’t the only Aqua Blue Sport rider to put in a good shift, with Calvin Watson joining the breakaway.

He scooped enough points at the intermediate sprints to take the points jersey; leading that competition from Sagan.

Watson up the road and riding into a classification jersey (Karen M Edwards - AquaBlueSport)

Perrig Quemeneur (Direct Energie) and Filippo Zaccanti (Nippo-Vini Fantini) attacked from the gun.

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Watson would ride across to them and the trio worked well together for the first two laps. Their gap reached a maximum of 2½ minutes.

Michael Albasini (Mitchelton-Scott) bridged solo during the third lap. However, the breakaway was caught not long after the final circuit began.

Eddie Dunbar gets off the front

That sparked a series of attacks, with Eddie Dunbar joining the hostilities as the bunch continued to get smaller.

And while an attack by Sylvan Dillier (AG2R La Mondiale) saw even riders break clear, they were caught with 5km remaining.

Dunbar was the sole Aqua Blue Sport rider to finish in the front group. US champion Larry Warbasse was next best of the team.

He was in a group 2:02 down, alongside team mates Mark Christian and Daniel Pearson.

Stefan Küng (BMC Racing) retained the yellow jersey he took after yesterday’s team time trial.

Tomorrow’s stage 3 takes the riders 182km from Oberstammheim to Gansingen. There are five cat 3 climbs later in the day; a finish that can suit Eddie Dunbar.

Stage victory #16 at the @tds but it would have been impossible without the hard work of my teammates! Thanks, everybody! @BORAhansgrohe rocks! #TourdeSuisse @BORAGmbH @Hansgrohe_PR @iamspecialized @sportful @ride100percent (Video by @veloncc) pic.twitter.com/M7KmXMHw28

— Peter Sagan (@petosagan) June 10, 2018