When the road went up, Eddie Dunbar was among the very best climbers in the race. He is now 6th overall.
Eddie Dunbar now 6th overall at Tour de l'Avenir
Eddie Dunbar has passed the first big climbing test at the Tour de l’Avenir in France.
The Irish rider climbed at the front of the race on today’s stage 7. He took a top 10 placing and is now 6th overall.
While the riders have seen plenty of action since the race began last Saturday, a new race began today.
And there are now climbs all the way to the finish on Sunday. Those four days of climbing commenced this evening with a 35.9km stage from Moutiers to Méribe.
On the strength of Dunbar’s ride today, he could be on for a huge result before the contest concludes.
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While today’s was a short leg, it was action-packed and featured a summit finish; the final third of the stage all uphill.
Dunbar relinquished time to five men up ahead, but the gaps at the front were modest.
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The same cannot be said of the rest of the field; some losing 14 minutes and five men finishing outside the time limit.
There was drama among the three men who came up the mountain first and sprinted it out for victory.
Brandon McNulty (United States) thought he had it won and threw his arms up in celebration.
However, the 19-year-old misjudged it only for Colombian Ivan Ramiro Sosa to nip in and snatch the victory on the line.
In the same time as them, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia rounded out the podium. And he is the new race leader.
Dunbar would finish in a group of three just 18 seconds down; a great result that sets him up very nicely for the rest of the race.
He is now 6th in the general standings just 31 seconds down on Pogacar; a prolific winner aged 19 years who has just signed for UAE Team Emirates.
Next of the Irish today after Dunbar was Mark Downey in 94th at 7:53 while Darragh O’Mahony was 113th at 9:29.
Daire Feeley was 114th at 9:29. Matt Teggart was 123rd at 10:46 and Michael O’Loughlin was with Teggart, on the same time and in 124th place.
The key today for the Irish was for Dunbar to ride himself into contention and everyone else to be sure to make the time cut; not easy on a short day with lots of climbing.
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