Eddie Dunbar piles on the hurt on the front of the escape. It split to pieces and the Irishman climbed with the very best. He took a fantastic overall result in Belgium.
Having impressed in the Ardennes classics and the Tour de Yorkshire, Eddie Dunbar was at it again over the weekend.
This time he put in a fantastic ride and ended the five-stage Baloise Belgium Tour (2.HC) in 4th place overall.
Riding in a field packed with WorldTour and ProContinental talent, Dunbar put in a formidable climbing display on Saturday’s queen stage.
And while he said after the race concluded yesterday that he always hoped for more, he was happy with his ride.
“Fourth place in a 2.HC race is obviously a pretty good result,” he said of a result he adds to 8th overall in the Tour de Yorkshire.
Advertisement
“The guys rode very well today to keep me out of trouble. And anything I asked for, they did,” he said.
“On the last two laps when the rain came down and it got a bit sketchy they kept me in a good position.
“It was a good day and we did what we set out to do. The team goal at the start of the week was to win a stage and to try and get a top five in GC.
“So one of those boxes was ticked. And I think it was a successful week for us as a whole.
“I’m in good condition after two solid results in the Tour de Yorkshire and the Baloise Belgium Tour.
”And (I’m) looking forward to carrying that form into the next block of racing.”
Dunbar in TT action on the third stage. Coquard, far right, wins yesterday's final stage after the heavens opened.
Related News
He finished in 24th place - in the 112-rider bunch - on stage 1, after 178.8km into Buggenhout. Victory went to André Greipel (Lotto Soudal).
Conor Dunne, a team mate of Dunbar's at Aqua Blue Sport, was very aggressive. He went clear in a six-man escape only caught 8km from the line.
Thursday's stage 2 saw the riders tackle 162.1km from Lochristi to Knokke-Heist (162.1k). It was again won by Greipel. Dunbar was 19th and Dunne finished in 43rd.
The Irish team's Danish rider Lasse Norman Hansen surged ahead, after great team work, in the golden kilometre.
He grabbed nine bonus seconds and jump to 2nd overall. Hansen took all three sprints within the 1km section.
The stage 3 TT was a pan flat 10.6km in Bornem. It was won by Christophe Laporte (Cofidis), with Mark Christian best of the Aqua Blue Sport men in 5th place at just 10 seconds.
Dunbar was 51st at 46 seconds and Dunne 78th and 55 seconds, with the race heading into the queen stage on Saturday.
The 146.6km stage began and finished in Wanze, with 12 categorised climbs; six on each of the two laps.
With the racing unfolding in the Liège province, the climbs included two passages of the brutally steep Mur de Huy.
A 21-rider strongman’s group broke clear, with Dunbar and Christian present.
And as the pressure of the stage and, later, attacking split the field, Dunbar made a key five-man selection with 14km remaining.
With him were Jelle Vanendert of Lotto Soudal and his teammate Jens Keukeleire. Completing the five was Dion Smith (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Anthony Turgis (Cofidis).
Vanendert would attack to win solo; by 16 seconds from Keukeleire, Smith and Turgis, in that order.
Dunbar was 5th and lost a few seconds in the final push to the line. He finished four seconds off the back of the three riders sprinting for 2nd place.
It was a great ride by the 21-year-old and one that saw him jump from 43rd to 5th overall. Dunne had a harder day, finishing 118th at 21:44.
Yesterday’s final stage – 157.7km from Landen to Tongeren - came down to a bunch sprint in the rain. It was won by Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept Cycling Club).
Dunbar was 19th on the same time and Dunne 125th at 2:42. And when 3rd placed overall Turgis failed to finish, it meant Dunbar jumped up a spot to 4th overall.
Topics
