Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) has gotten his Tour de Romandie underway today - a vital tune up for Giro d'Italia. The opening stage was a 6.82km prologue TT in Port-Valais; a very short effort would not suit Dunbar, a flyweight climber rather than a specialist on the flat.
As expected, the Irishman finished some way down the field, placing 70th of 154 starters. Dunbar was 26 seconds down on stage winner Josef Černý (Soudal-QuickStep). World champion Tobias Foss (Jumbo Visma) and Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-QuickStep) placed 2nd and 3rd respectively, both at one second.
While the really big climbing does not come until the summit finish to Thyon 2000 on Saturday, there are enough lumps and bumps on the course tomorrow to trim the field. The stage should also provide a test for Dunbar as he seeks to make up lost ground following his early season crash.
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Tomorrow's stage takes the riders 170.9km from Crissier Vallée de Joux, with three categorised climbs - two cat 2s and a cat 3. However, the two second category climbs come one after the other, with only a very short descent between the two.
That means almost 10km of climbing, with just a small break around the halfway point. And with those climbs averaging seven per cent and eight per cent gradient, they may prove tricky for many of the riders.
Meanwhile, in France today two of Ireland's up and coming riders have been in action for their UCI Continental teams. Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon) and Kevin McCambridge (Trinity Racing) both completed the 155.5km stage 1 at Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste (2.2).
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The stage - from Plouescat to Saint-Pol-de-Léon - was decided in a bunch sprint, from a group of 100 riders, and was won by Luke Lamperti (Trinity Racing). Andreas Stokbro (Leopard TOGT Pro Cycling) was 2nd and Riley Pickrell (Israel Premier Tech Academy) 3rd.
There was a small split in the bunch, resulting in a time gap of seven seconds, which Rafferty was on the wrong side of as he finished in 48th place. McCambridge, who was on team duties today, was 124th at 2:35.
Tomorrow's stage 2 takes the riders 172.2km from Sibiril to Melgven on a course with multiple short climbs that should trim the peloton rather than blow it to pieces. Both McCambridge and Rafferty are capable of making a serious impression over the next six days of racing.
Ten days ago Rafferty (19) put in a very strong ride to place 5th in the U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Meanwhile, McCambridge (21) spent much of GP Palio del Recioto-Trofeo C&F Resinatura Blocchi (1.2U) on the attack two weeks ago.
