Eddie Dunbar has put in a very strong climbing shift on stage 3 of Tour de La Provence (2.Pro), taking 5th place in some very good company.
The Irish cyclist finished in what was the second chasing
group on a day when everyone was left groveling in the wake of Nairo Quintana
on Mont Ventoux.
The Arkea-Samsic rider got his team to ramp up the pace
immediately the climb began and with most of the 10km ascent remaining Quintana
attacked.
From the moment he accelerated the race was for 2nd
place, with Quintana looking back to his best and proving head and shoulders
above everyone else.
He claimed the stage by 1:28 on a trio including Astana’s
Alexey Lutsenko and race leader Aleksandr Vlasov as well as Hugh Carthy (EF Pro
Cycling).
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A further 43 seconds back Eddie Dunbar (Team Ineos) led
home the next group on the road; attacking those he was with and gaining one
second on them in the last couple of hundred metres of the stage.
Dunbar was 5th from Sepp Kuss (Jumbo Visma), Wilco Kelderman
(Team Sunweb), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama FDJ).
Kuss was the only rider able to follow Quintana when he
attacked but the young American almost immediately lost the Colombian’s wheel
and then slotted into the group that formed behind.
Dunbar was initially with Lutsenko and yesterday’s stage
2 winner and race leader Vlasov.
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However, the Irish rider rode a great climb in resisting
the urge to go too deep too early, instead getting into what was a second
chasing group.
And while Dunbar, Kuss and Pinot took turns at attacking
that group, it continued to reform before Dunbar’s final attack in the closing stages
when he pulled out one second on the others.
The climb up to Chalet Reynard to end the
140km stage may have only been about half the usual Mont Ventoux that often
features in the Tour de France, but Dunbar rode very strongly and with
maturity.
He had placed 6th on yesterday’s stage
which finished atop a smaller climb and went into today’s stage in 9th place
overall.
He was equal on time with eight riders
all 34 seconds down on Vlasov. After his ride today Dunbar is now 6th
overall, 2:21 down on Quintana, with one stage remaining.
Last year Dunbar went into the final stage of the same
race in 7th overall at just 15 seconds and put in a strong attack in a bid to
win the race overall.
Tomorrow ‘s stage is not as hard as today’s but if Dunbar
could get up the road he would need a time gain of 53 seconds to lift him onto
the final podium.
While that looks like a tall order, Dunbar can very
content with his ride today on Mont Ventoux.
It was a stage on which his Team Ineos co-leaders on this
race, Pavel Sivakov and Gianni Moscon, were two and 12 minutes respectively
down on their Irish team mate.
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