Despite an eventful day, with a crash and a long chase, Eddie Dunbar was still among the strongest me when the field split in the latter stages of the European Championships in Switzerland today (Photo: Brendan Slattery)
By Brian Canty
Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar put in a very gallant effort in the junior road race at the European Championships in Nyon, Switzerland this afternoon but failed to get the major result many felt he was capable of.
The Kanturk man, who led the four-man Irish team in today’s 126km even, finished in the front group of around 60 riders after the main peloton split in two in the closing laps.
On the second last lap of nine, a break of four clipped off the front and though they only managed to pull out a gap of around half a minute they stayed away to contest the finish.
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The gold medal went to Italian rider Affini Edoardo while Jordi Warlop (Belgium) took silver and Idjouadiene Pierre (France) taking bronze.
It was a disappointing outcome for Dunbar, who has been in great form all year. He did not look in any way out of his depth in the Nations Cup events he rode this year against strong international selections.
He took second overall at the Trofeo Karlsberg last month in Germany and hopes were high he could push for a medal today.
But a combination of a crash and a hectic chase back on knocked some of the edge off his renowned kick and was left to rue what might have been.
The other Irish riders all did as much as they could, with Michael O’Loughlin and Stephen Shanahan putting in a Trojan effort to get Dunbar back up to the bunch after his fall.
It was a day to forget for Roscommon man Daire Feeley, who punctured out early and was never a feature in the race.
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However, they will all look to next week’s Junior Tour of Ireland and to the World Championships in Spain later in the year to make amends.
The podium after the junior men's road race, with the medals gong to Italy, Belgium and France in that order in Nyon, Switzerland.
Today’s race, nine laps of 14 kilometres, featured one really stinging climb with a ramp of around 11 per cent. But on such narrow roads it resulted in lots of crashes as riders fought to stay at the front.
The Irish team were holding their own in the early stages but a five-man break broke clear when Dunbar was chasing back on on lap three. And with the pre race plan to mind Dunbar, it was no surprise that no Irish man was in the break.
Dunbar was a minute off the break when he crashed and lost even more time as he straightened his bike out. But credit to Shanahan and O’Loughlin who were alert to the emergency.
Dunbar got back on terms after five laps, which is when the break was reeled in and the real attacking commenced, with the Belgium and Russian teams all trying to get away.
That pace forced a split in the bunch, and only Dunbar from the Irish team made the front group; the others clearly exhausted from chasing.
With two laps to go there was still a big group but on the final lap the decisive move went clear with the three medal winners and a Swiss rider there.
And that’s how it stayed to the finish. We’ll have more from the Irish camp shortly.
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