Eddie Dunbar looks focussed while riding in the break in the men's U23 road race at the UCI World Championships in Richmond, Virginia. The 19-year-old lost touch with around 50 kilometres to go but he again demonstrated his willingness to attack (Picture: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Eddie Dunbar has put in a tremendous display of courage in the men’s U23 road race at the UCI World Championships in Richmond, Virginia.
In his first year out of the junior ranks, the young Corkman made the breakaway that stayed out front for much of the 160-kilometre event.
He ultimately paid for his efforts in that escape, but made a massive impact on a big stage with WorldTour managers looking on.
Having gone across to an earlier break of four with the help of four others, Dunbar found himself in a very decent group of nine after around an hour of racing.
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The full break included; Jose Luis Rodriguez (Chile), Greg Daniel (USA), Stepan Astafyev (Kazahkstan), Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eritrea), Jean Bosco Insenguyumva (Rwanda), Wilmar Parades (Colombia), Adil Barbari (Algeria), Joao Rodrigues (Portugal) and Dunbar.
Dunbar first found himself clear in a group of nine, which reduced to two and then swelled to five before he was distanced after a great ride (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Clearly feeling strong early on, the Irish man pushed on and thinned the group down to two.
Only Rodriguez of Chile went with Dunbar initially, though Italian Davide Martinelli and Oleg Zemlyakov of Kazahkstan joined later to make it four out front.
Their margin was never really substantial and always hovered around the two minute mark – and they certainly had to work to get that lead.
Runner-up in the U23 time-trial on Tuesday, Max Schachmann of Germany boosted their chances of staying away when he bridged across with around 60 kilometres to go.
But the cracks were starting to show in the armour of Dunbar, who had easily given the most up until that point.
Indeed Martinelli refused to contribute to the work load, with Dunbar rightly giving him a piece of his mind at one point.
But with just over 50 kilometres remaining NFTO Pro Cycling man Dunbar was the first to drop out of the escape, losing contact on the ascent of Libby Hill on the fourth last lap of 15km.
The inclines on the Worlds course are perhaps more testing than people gave them credit for. Dunbar, far right, in the escape (Photo: Sean Rowe)
He took sanctuary back in the main bunch before the pace ramped up in the final quarter of the race.
The remaining four leaders had just one minute on the peloton with three laps of the circuit to go but a mechanical for Martinelli took him out of the running, at least for a while.
With two laps remaining the French, Italians - now that Martinelli had dropped back – and the British took control, with the break eventually caught on the penultimate passage of Libby Hill.
Just before the catch, the race began to really hot up with 30 kilometres to go when a flurry of attacks launched off the front of the now rapidly thinning peloton.
Meanwhile out front Zemlyakov, Rodriguez and Schachmann clung doggedly to their 30-second lead before finally being reabsorbed.
Soren Kragh Andersen of Denmark was the first to launch a meaningful attack as the business end of the contest kicked off.
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In a race that always features really strong and well-drilled teams, Dunbar was up against it from the outset having no team mates (Photo: Sirotti)
And the double stage winner of the Tour de l’Avenir really shook things up when he sprang from the peloton, which by now had jettisoned Dunbar.
With the three leaders caught, Andersen led solo on the final lap but with Austria well represented and setting a furious pace the Dane was brought back.
Incredibly, Martinelli - the victim of mechanicals that necessitated a couple of bike changes - got back into contention.
And he still had the energy to go clear late on with Nils Politt (Germany) and Jakub Kaczmarek (Poland).
A couple of crashes on the final lap as rain began to fall took a number of top contenders down – including Owain Doull of Team GB.
The fancied Briton was caught up in a spill caused after a Belgian rider trying to catch the leaders fell on the corner of the cobbled climb at the front of the bunch and caused chaos.
And from that moment sprang the racing-winning move.
Dunbar finishes his race after a characteristically attacking display (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Kevin Ledanois of France attacked; passing Martinelli on the climb after the Italian became the last to be overhauled of the late three-man break he had been in.
The French rider gained a gap, barging Martinelli for the inside line on the climb.
And then delivered the performance of his life to crest the last few hills and hang on for a famous win.
Simone Consonni (Italy) and Anthony Turgis (France) rounded out the podium, with the silver medalist very nearly catching the winner on the line.
He promptly burst into tears at being denied gold as the French erupted in deserved celebration.
Dunbar crossed the line in 109th, around 10 minutes behind the winner.
It was a very strong showing in a very tough and exciting championships where Dunbar seemed determined to go out and make an impact.
As the only Irish rider in the race, securing a medal or even top 10 result was a near impossible task. He was very impressive as a junior and equally so this year in his first season as an U23 rider.
He will feel he needs to continue to demonstrate his strength in order to make what seems an increasingly inevitable move to WorldTour level in the not too distant future.
We will bring you an interview with Dunbar later.
UCI World Championships
Friday, Sept 25th: U23 Road Race
1. Kevin Ledanois, France, in 3:54:45
2. Simone Consonni, Italy, at :00
3. Anthony Turgis, France, at :02
4. Gianni Moscon, Italy, at :02
5. Alexander KampEgested, Denmark, at :05
6. Fabian Lienhard, Switzerland, at :05
7. Michal Schlegel, Czech Republic, at :05
8. Lucas Gaday Orozco, Argentina, at :05
9. Adam DeVos, Canada, at :10
10. Lennard Kamna, Germany, at :12
11. Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin, Eritrea, at :12
12. Tom Bohli, Switzerland, at :12
13. Jack Haig, Australia, at :12
14. Tim Kerkhof, Netherlands, at :13
15. Mihkel Raim, Estonia, at :13
16. Michal Paluta, Poland, at :13
17. Benjamin Declercq, Belgium, at :13
18. Jakub Kaczmarek, Poland, at :13
19. Maxime Farazijn, Belgium, at :13
20. Miguel Angel Benito Diez, Spain, at :16
21. Alexander Wachter, Austria, at :16
22. Sam Oomen, Netherlands, at :16
23. Twan Brusselman, Netherlands, at :16
24. Imanol Estevez, Spain, at :24
25. Rok Korosec, Slovenia, at :24
26. Benjamin Perry, Canada, at :24
27. Lucas Eriksson, Sweden, at :24
28. Felix Grossschartner, Austria, at :24
29. Kragh AndersenSoren, Denmark, at :24
30. Sebastian Schonberger, Austria, at :24
31. Ignacio Prado, Mexico, at :29
32. Fabien Grellier, France, at :29
33. Stylianos Farantakis, Greece, at :29
34. Josip Rumac, Croatia, at :35
35. Jan Dieteren, Germany, at :37
36. Dylan Page, Switzerland, at :37
37. Laurens DePlus, Belgium, at :37
38. Engen Korsaeth Truls, Norway, at :37
39. Nuno Matos, Portugal, at :37
40. David Per, Slovenia, at :37
41. Cristian Raileanu, Republic Of Moldova, at :37
42. Anders Skaarseth, Norway, at :48
43. Metkel Eyob, Eritrea, at :48
44. Hector SaezBenito, Spain, at :48
45. Yuri Kobashi, Japan, at :48
46. Samir Jabrayilov, Azerbaijan, at :48
47. Erik Baska, Slovakia, at :48
48. Daniel Eaton, United States Of America, at :48
49. Gasper Katrasnik, Slovenia, at :48
50. Nils Politt, Germany, at :48
51. Michael Gogl, Austria, at :59
52. Oliviero Troia, Italy, at 1:03
53. Josten Vaidem, Estonia, at 1:07
54. Sergey Luchshenko, Kazakhstan, at 1:09
55. Rui Carvalho, Portugal, at 1:12
56. Nicholas Schultz, Australia, at 1:12
57. Ildar Arslanov, Russian Federation, at 1:12
58. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, Eritrea, at 1:12
59. Hugo Hofstetter, France, at 1:12
60. Guy Gabay, Israel, at 1:12
61. Toshiki Omote, Japan, at 1:12
62. Yevgeniy Gidich, Kazakhstan, at 1:12
63. Ryan Gibbons, South Africa, at 1:12
64. Daan Myngheer, Belgium, at 1:12
65. Maximilian Schachmann, Germany, at 1:12
66. Davide Martinelli, Italy, at 1:12
67. Gregor Muhlberger, Austria, at 1:12
68. Artem Nych, Russian Federation, at 1:12
69. Roman Kustadinchev, Russian Federation, at 1:17
70. James Oram, New Zealand, at 1:20
71. Abdia Anass AitEl, Morocco, at 1:25
72. Luis RodriguezJose, Chile, at 1:25
73. Daniel Hoelgaard, Norway, at 1:25
74. Christian EikingOdd, Norway, at 1:25
75. Wilmar Paredes, Colombia, at 1:25
76. Oleg Zemlyakov, Kazakhstan, at 1:25
77. Lennard Hofstede, Netherlands, at 1:48
78. Harry Carpenter, Australia, at 2:08
79. Patrick Muller, Switzerland, at 2:20
80. Felipe OsorioJuan, Colombia, at 2:22
81. Marcus Faglum Karlsson, Sweden, at 2:49
82. Nathan VanHooydonck, Belgium, at 3:02
83. Adrian Banaszek, Poland, at 3:02
84. Dion Smith, New Zealand, at 3:02
85. Daniel Turek, Czech Republic, at 3:31
86. Josef Cerny, Czech Republic, at 3:31
87. Logan Owen, United States Of America, at 3:32
88. Leonardo Basso, Italy, at 3:34
89. Jayde Julius, South Africa, at 3:34
90. Colin Joyce, United States Of America, at 4:11
91. Markus Hoelgaard, Norway, at 4:25
92. Owain Doull, Great Britain, at 4:40
93. Michael Carbel Svendgaard, Denmark, at 4:40
94. Krists Neilands, Latvia, at 4:40
95. Gustav Hoog, Sweden, at 5:17
96. Davide Ballerini, Italy, at 5:42
97. Bonaventure Uwizeyimana, Rwanda, at 6:11
98. Thery Schir, Switzerland, at 6:53
99. Pedro Rodriguez, Ecuador, at 8:14
100. Suess Fabrizio Von Nacher, Mexico, at 8:51
101. Juraj Bellan, Slovakia, at 9:46
102. Stepan Astafyev, Kazakhstan, at 9:46
103. Esteban David Villareal Almeida, Ecuador, at 9:46
104. Joao Rodrigues, Portugal, at 10:44
105. Abderrahmane Mansouri, Algeria, at 10:44
106. Aksel Nommela, Estonia, at 10:44
107. Ludvig Bengtsson, Sweden, at 10:44
108. Eddie Dunbar, Ireland, at 10:44
109. Adil Barbari, Algeria, at 10:44
110. Dmitriy Lukyanov, Kazakhstan, at 10:44
111. Mamyr Stash, Russian Federation, at 11:06
112. Jonas Gregaard Wilsly, Denmark, at 11:06
113. Lubos Malovec, Slovakia, at 11:06
114. Franck Bonnamour, France, at 11:49
115. Hayden Mccormick, New Zealand, at 11:49
116. Juan Ignacio Curuchet, Argentina, at 12:04
117. Roy Goldstein, Israel, at 14:27
118. Tekeste Haile Yonas, Eritrea, at 14:27
119. Tao Geoghegan Hart, Great Britain, at 15:19
120. Ruben Guerreiro, Portugal, at 15:19
121. Aviv Yechzkel, Israel, at 15:19
122. Yuma Koishi, Japan, at 15:41
123. Jhonatan Ospina, Colombia, at 16:38
124. Tyler Williams, United States Of America, at 16:38
125. Valens Ndayisenga, Rwanda, at 17:01
126. Scott Davies, Great Britain, at 17:01
127. Alex Peters, Great Britain, at 17:01
128. Alejandro Morales, Chile, at 17:08
129. Tom Wirtgen, Luxembourg, at 17:45
130. Salvador Martinez, El Salvador, at 23:19
DNF Jonas Koch, Germany
DNF Martin Laas, Estonia
DNF Marlen Zmorka, Ukraine
DNF Sergiy Kozachenko, Ukraine
DNF Nigel Ellsay, Canada
DNF Ruslan Giliazov, Russian Federation
DNF Alexander Cataford, Canada
DNF Marc Fournier, France
DNF Suguru Tokuda, Japan
DNF Mads Wurtz Schmidt, Denmark
DNF Caio Godoy Ormenese, Brazil
DNF Gregory Daniel, United States Of America
DNF Xavier SanSebastian, Spain
DNF Rustom Lim, Philippines
DNF Atsushi Oka, Japan
DNF Alvaro Jose Hodeg Chagui, Colombia
DNF Jean Bosco Insengiyumva, Rwanda
DNF Gabriel Cullaigh, Great Britain
DNF Nikolay Cherkasov, Russian Federation
DNF Frantisek Sisr, Czech Republic
DNF Andrej Petrovski, Fyr Of Macedonia
DNF Fridtjof Roeinaas, Norway
DNF Dominic Perez, Philippines
DNF Sebastian Molano, Colombia
DNF Dominique Mayho, Bermuda
DNF Miles Scotson, Australia
DNF Mark Camingao, Philippines
DNF Jefferson Cepeda, Ecuador
DNF Oskar Nisu, Estonia
DNF Gerardo Medina, Mexico
DNF Nassim Saidi, Algeria
DNF Narankhuu Bat-erdene, Mongolia
DNF Abderrahmane Bechlaghem, Algeria
DNF Omer Goldstein, Israel
DNF Nickolas Dlamini, South Africa
DNF Kolya Shumov, Belarus
DNF Jhonatan Restrepo, Colombia
DNF Elias AbouRachid, Lebanon
DNF Steven Lammertink, Netherlands
DSQ Alistair Donohoe, Australia
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