Eddie Dunbar takes career-best result at exactly right time
Eddie Dunbar getting across to the breakaway yesterday in an all-out bid to take the yellow jersey from the BMC Development Team.
Now in his third year riding as an U23 and competing at Continental level, Eddie Dunbar has done his chances of a WorldTour contract no harm with a career-best result.
He has taken 2nd overall at the Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux after attacking on the final stage in a bid to take the overall victory. He was only caught with 2km to go.
The young Irishman was 2nd in the morning TT in Belgium yesterday.
That brought him up from 12th to 3rd overall after the opening two stages on Friday and Saturday.
And in yesterday afternoon’s short but undulating road stage Dunbar nudged one place higher again overall to 2nd.
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He finished in the bunch but took some time bonuses along the way.
It meant he leapt over Axeon Hagens Berman team mate Neilson Powless into the runner-up spot in the final classification.
Dunbar put himself in contention on Saturday when he was 7th and among a group of 19 riders that gained 13 seconds.
The race was won overall by Jasper Philipsen (19) of the BMC Development Team. He won stage 2 and was 4th in yesterday’s TT taking the race lead in the process.
He took the leader's jersey from Eddie Dunbar's team mate Chris Lawless who was 2nd on stage 1 and also took time bonuses.
Dunbar’s 2nd place in the 10.3km TT was especially impressive. He finished equal on time with Powless.
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While Eddie Dunbar is the former Irish junior TT champion and is current U23 national champion he is not regarded as a specialist against the clock.
However, he is now firmly shaping up as a climber who can also time trial. It is a devastating combination in pro cycling.
With the yellow jersey just 13 seconds ahead of Dunbar going into the final stage, his team went on the attack.
No fewer than four of its riders made a nine-man escape that put the overall leader under serious pressure.
With 40km to go they had a lead of 45 seconds and Dunbar was leader on the road.
However, the BMC Development Team was assisted by others in the chase. The Belgian race leader clearly had friends willing to help on home soil.
The breakaway was caught with just 2km remaining, the overall win slipping through Dunbar’s fingers.
But he said he was happy he and the team had put it up to everyone else. "We definitely put the pressure on BMC," Dunbar said.
"The yellow jersey got dropped on one of the climbs only 30 km into the race. So our plan nearly worked.
“If the other teams had not started helping BMC chase, we might have made it. We definitely gave it our best shot.”
When the race regrouped just before the finish of the 97.7km final stage from Ath to Chièvres, Estonian Aksel Nõmmela (Leopard Pro Cycling) won the stage.
Dunbar finished 11 seconds behind Philipsen overall, thanks to his 5 second time bonus while on the attack. Powless was a further two seconds back.
Dunbar ended the final stage in 26th place in the 86-rider bunch.
Matt Teggart of An Post-Chainreaction took 15th in the same time as the winner. Michael O’Loughlin (Team Wiggins) was 56th and Sean McKenna was 64th.
In the morning TT O’Loughlin was 65th, 1:04 down on Powless and Dunbar. McKenna was 79th at 1:23 and Teggart 90th at 1:35.
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