It may have been a stage for the bigger road men but Eddie Dunbar passed an important test on stage 3 of the Tour de Yorkshire.
He was positioned perfectly when the racing split in the
crosswinds and came through the rough and tumble of the race shattering to
pieces to finish in the front group.
There were just 21 riders in the group approaching the
finish in a windswept Scarborough.
And the sight of the waves crashing over the wall onto
the road as the lead group went passed summed up what kind of a day it had
been; wet and windy.
Dunbar specialises in going uphill quicker than most. And
while battling with some of the classics men in the crosswinds will never be
his area of expertise, he coped admirably today.
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Indeed in the last portion of the stage he was one of the
Team Ineos on the front, driving the pace forward in the hope Chris Lawless
could win.
At the finish Lawless was beaten into the runner-up spot
by Alexander Kamp (Riwal Readynez); the ProConti 25-year-old rider took strong
for Lawless.
Rounding out the podium on the day was Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet (CCC Team).
That result meant Lawless took the race leader, though he
is equal on time with stage winner Kamp.
Eddie Dunbar was 16th, and one of 17 riders credited with
the same time as the winner as four of the lead group lost a few seconds in the
sprint.
There was then a gap of 1:43 to the next group home; six
men chasing the leaders all the way.
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And then down the field group after group finished, with
22:10 covering the winner to last man home, Ireland’s Robbie McCarthy (Canyon).
McCarthy’s team mate and compatriot Rory Townsend was a
non-starter today.
The only other Irishman in the race, and yesterday’s
breakaway hero, Chris McGlinchey fought hard in the wind today.
Riding for Vitus Pro Cycling, he was 79th and finished in
a group some 9:52 down; a solid ride considering the stage was so hard and
split to pieces with over an hour to race.
Dunbar’s ride means he is now up to 9th overall; one of a
group of riders 10 seconds down on his team mate Lawless with a lumpy 175km
from Halifax to Leeds set to conclude the race tomorrow.
With about 55km remaining an early breakaway still enjoyed a gap of almost one minute, but were clearly going to be caught.
Back in the main field, with a crosswind coming from the
right, CCC Team and Ian Stannard of Team Ineos began to apply the pressure.
A clutch of riders group in formation at the head of
affairs; about 35 men with everyone else lined out behind them as the breakaway
was swept up.
And very quickly the gaps began to appear in that line
and front pack of riders rode away from everyone.
Stannard and Luke Rowe were especially active for Team Ineos;
doing a lot of damage in the crosswinds to ensure not even a spirited chase by
a strong group just behind was successful.
Eddie Dunbar looked a little under pressure initially, but he soon began to look comfortable and was part of the Team Ineos up and over effort on the front in the latter stages.
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