Eddie Dunbar flying at Giro: The Irish cyclist lasted despite aggression from the likes of Primoz Roglic, above.
Eddie Dunbar has finished with the
general classification favourites after a hard day on the climbs on Giro d’Italia
stage 19.
The Irishman guided Team Ineos leader
Pavel Sivakov all the way to the finish. And though both lost a handful of
seconds to the biggest names, they were in the group when the sprint to the
line was taken up by Primoz Roglic.
While the 13-man group was only
sprinting for 14th place as the early breakaway stayed away, Jumbo-Visma’s Roglic
went for it as he tried to open some time gaps.
However, race leader Richard Carapaz
(Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) were right on his wheel.
Dunbar and Sivakov ceded a few seconds
at the back of the group. But they were right there with the biggest names at
the end of 151km from Treviso to San Martino di Castrozza.
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Dunbar took 24th on the stage and Conor
Dunne (Israel Cycling Academy) was 133rd at 24:09.
That Dunbar survived today for the first
time in the favourites group so deep into the race is a very good sign.
He is clearly coping well with the
stress of three weeks of racing. And today he actually performed better on the
climbs in relation to the more established men than on any other stage so far.
While it was only a day of medium
climbing today, the stage finished on a 13.5km climb at 5.7 per cent.
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And the select group was as small as it
would be on a much harder day in higher mountains.
Up front, Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton
Scott) took a very popular win; attacking from the escape group several times
on the final climb and finally getting clear with about 3km remaining.
Back in the select group, Roglic tried
several times; blowing the group apart each time before he was caught and a
regrouping occurred.
However, leader of the best young rider
classification, Angel Miguel Lopez, had the same idea.
The Astana man attacked the select group
and got clear; taking 13th place on the day some 5:45 down on Chaves.
More importantly, he was 44 seconds ahead
of the favourites and is now within 26 seconds of Bauke Mollema (Trek
Segafredo) in 5th place.
In the context of the front group
getting so small on the final climb and the attacking that occurred, Dunbar’s
ride was an excellent one.
He remains in 22nd position overall and
also stays in 6th place in the young rider classification.
Dunbar also gave Sivakov crucial
assistance today up front in holding the favourites and keeping his position
into the top 10.
The race takes in one last big mountain
stage tomorrow, when Roglic and Nibali simply must gain time on Carapaz ahead
of the final 17km TT on Sunday.
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