Eddie Dunbar had a great go in the U23 Worlds; one of the few able to attack during the pointy end of the race. But he came away empty-handed after the last lap of the circuit proved the winning and losing of the race in Innsbruck (All photos by Sean Rowe)
The Irish team has come away empty-handed from the U23 road race at the World Road Championships in Innsbruck.
Eddie Dunbar, Team Ireland’s leader, was much fancied before the event. And he would put in a full-on effort to win the race.
However, he perhaps pushed too much too soon when he sensed the race was getting away from him.
And he would pay for those efforts on the vital last lap; the final climb and descent off it deciding the race.
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In the end Dunbar’s challenge ended on that final climb; when he went from being third on the road chasing the two leaders to being caught and distanced by a select group.
Dunbar would finish 20th, but at least having shown very strongly and having been unafraid to attack the race.
The only other finisher for the Irish team was Conn McDunphy; placing 84th. Michael O’Loughlin, Daire Feeley and Darragh O’Mahony were called into team action earlier.
They gave their all for Dunbar on the front of the bunch to keep him safe early in the race. And they would not finish as a result.
McDunphy finishes; a great achievement at this level. O'Loughlin after putting in a great shift in aid of Dunbar.
The race featured an 80km section, including the Gnadenwald climb, before reaching the 25km circuit for four laps in Innsbruck.
And while there were plenty of attacks, from the line, the race was decided on the final two laps of the Innsbruck circuit.
Dunbar was a constant presence near the front; being looked after by his team mates for a long period before the last hour kicked off.
The Irish team was clearly keen to get him through that first section of the race, before the finale, when crashes were more likely.
But the scenario that would win the race began with just over two laps to go. The Swiss got into the driving seat and stayed there to run out the eventual winners; Marc Hirschi taking gold for them.
On a downhill stretch on the second lap of the finishing circuit, and with 57km remaining, the Swiss gathered on the front and pushed hard.
An Italian rider sitting about eight wheel appeared to let the wheel go, and a seven-man group suddenly had a lead.
Dunbar was sitting two positions behind the Italian who let the gap open. The Irishman wisely did nothing to aid the chase as the gap increased.
Darragh O'Mahoney and Daire Feeley; like the rest of the Irish they played their part today.
Incredibly, in the seven-man lead group there were four Swiss riders. And that was perfect for Dunbar.
It meant the onus was on the other strong nations to chase. And with Eddie Dunbar the sole Irish man in what remained of the peloton, he was in ‘free ride’ territory.
As the Swiss-led escape pulled clear, Italy took up the chase in the peloton; aided by the Russians. But the breakaway gained 50 seconds in around 10km.
Up front in the breakaway was eventual winner Hirsch with three team mates in the shape of Gino Mader, Patrick Muller and Lukas Ruegg.
They were clear with Mikkel Honore (Denmark), Neilson Powless (USA) and Mark Padun (Ukraine).
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Early on the second last passage of the testing Igls climb, the breakaway had almost one minute. And the inevitable attacking began from the peloton behind.
Up from Padun attacked and Mueller went with him; that pair pulling clear of the others in the escape.
As the breakaway split, an Italian rider sat out front of the bunch. He had attacked in pursuit of the breakaway but nobody joined him, in what was a cagey period in the race.
But with 38km remaining that cagey dynamic came to an end when Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar hit the front of the bunch to force the chase of the breakaway.
He was aided by the Belgians and the Slovaks as the bunch numbered no more than 40 riders.
And the surge up the climb on the penultimate passage did the job; the gap to the four men who had been in the breakaway coming right down
Dunbar was part of a 10-man group that was first to catch the four breakaway men; though Padun and Muller were still clear.
Almost immediately Dunbar’s group caught some of the breakaway riders, the Irishman attacked; hitting out with exactly 36.5km remaining.
He was marked by Swiss rider Gino Mader, who had beaten him to a stage win at the Tour de l’Avenir last month.
Mader, who had been in the earlier breakaway, initially helped Dunbar a little with the workload despite his team mate Muller being up the road with Ukraine's Padun.
But behind them Team GB began to press; and there was still plenty of them in contention. They chased on the front of the bunch, which now numbered about 30 riders.
As the race approached the start-finish area to take the bell, Mader and Dunbar had the two leaders – Padun and Muller - in their sights.
But now Mader was leaning on Dunbar, letting him do the vast majority of the work.
Padun and Muller led over the finish line on the bell; by nine seconds from Dunbar and Mader. And the bunch – numbering just 23 riders - was then 24 further seconds back. It was all to play for with just one lap to go.
But with Mader leaving Dunbar to do the work in their two-man group, the gap to the two leaders opened on the first couple of kilometres of that final lap; creeping back out to 20 seconds very quickly.
Back in what remained of the bunch, the Belgians had taken it up. They were chasing Mader and Dunbar just ahead of them, and then Padun and Muller, who were some 42 seconds up with exactly 20km remaining.
With Mader sitting on Dunbar; the bunch was getting closer to the Irish rider and the two leaders were getting further way - with the final climb fast approaching.
With 19km remaining, the Belgians were continuing to drive hard on the front of the small peloton as the road kicked up, and they caught Dunbar and Mader.
That left only Padun and Muller up the road; and the gap they enjoyed was coming down rapidly.
Unfortunately, as the Belgians continued to press and the road continued to rise, Dunbar lost his place in the group with just over 18km to go.
With 17km remaining, what remained of the peloton was shattered when Bjorg Lambrecht of Belgium pushed the pace.
On the climb he pressed hard on the front of what was now a select group rather than a peloton. The two leaders – Padun and Muller - were instantly caught.
Lambrecht, who was withdrawn from the Vuelta early by Lotto-Soudal to prepare for this race, continued to ride on the front up the climb.
And while he spent some time protesting that those in his wheel would not share the workload, his effort pulled the winning escape clear.
Behind him on the climb was eventual race winner Hirsch and Jaakko Hanninen of Finland.
Those three stayed together up the climb, with Hirsch later attacking going downhill with 10km remaining and pulling clear to win.
He took the gold some 15 seconds ahead of Lambrecht, who beat Hanninen in the sprint for silver.
In their wake the race was in smithereens; Mader and Padun coming in together for 4th and 5th some 35 seconds down.
Jaime Castrillo of Spain took 6th some 45 seconds down on the winner. And then came a six-man group, which was effectively the remains of the peloton.
It was led home, for 7th place, by Tour de l’Avenir champion, Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia. Ethan Hayter, the 19-year-old Team Sky stagiaire who has ridden some races recently with Dunbar, was 8th.
Then came Muller, the Swiss rider who had spent a long time up the road; taking 9th place for his efforts. And last man in that group was Great Britain’s James Shaw in 10th.
Eddie Dunbar would finish on his own in 20th place some 3:23 down. Conn McDunphy’s 84th place was 21:36 down, though he did well to finish on a day when almost half of the field did not.
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