Eddie Dunbar Carries on Attacking

With a spot in the Giro likely for Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar, the former NFTO rider was in super attacking form on stage 4 of the Tour de Yorkshire and finishes third

Eddie Dunbar Carries on Attacking

By Connor McLoughlin, Sportsbeat

County Cork’s Eddie Dunbar hopes he has done enough with his third-place finish in the 2019 Tour de Yorkshire to earn selection for the Giro d’Italia.

The Irishman guided his teammate Chris Lawless to victory in the four-stage race and hopes it will help him be part of the British team’s line-up for what would be his first Grand Tour, which begins next week. Dunbar’s assistance on the final stage, as it sped into Leeds after the 175km route from Halifax, assured it was his teammate who stood on the podium in God’s own county.

And the 22-year-old has high hopes to be part of Italy’s biggest road race after his stellar showing this week in Yorkshire. “I would love to go to the Giro,” said Dunbar, who was born in Banteer. It was a goal of mine at the start of the year to enter the Giro but I’ve had problems with injury but I’ve come back strong and I’m building back up. It would be a good race to go to and my first grand tour. The decision should come in the next 24 hours”.

“Egan Bernal was going into the race as one of the favourites, and we wish him a speedy recovery, but his injury opens the door for another rider – obviously I would like that to be me. Lawless was in pole position to keep the leader’s jersey he earned on stage three from Bridlington to Scarborough following a second-place finish. For the second year in a row, Yorkshire Bank and Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries are the proud sponsor of the blue leader’s jersey, also known as the General Classification Jersey.
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Dunbar was one of a host of Team Ineos riders in a position to potentially win the overall title – alongside four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome. But he was happy to play second fiddle to his teammate Lawless, as the Irishman made sure his teammate got the second-placed finish behind Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet controlling a three-man break for the line on the final stage.

“A lot of teams thought we would ride pretty hard with me, Froomy and [Owain] Doull there,” Dunbar said. “But we backed Chris [Lawless] and he performed. That was always our plan, we just rode every climb easy until the last one and Chris had enough in the tank to conserve himself to catch back on – we rode a perfect race. I knew if I went full on the last kicker I could have a chance [to win], but when it was me, Greg and Chris in the break it was all in for him then.”

“We knew worse-case scenario if he finished second he could still win the overall. They were telling me to give my all on the radio so I did – it paid off.”

And Dunbar loved his week as part of the 2019 event in the white rose county and feels he was showing improvement with every stage he raced. “I started this week not feeling super,” he added. But every day I got better. The more racing I do seems to help me perform. It was a very good few days and hopefully it can help me as I progress onto more racing.”

Yorkshire Bank is an Official Partner of the Tour de Yorkshire and the ground-breaking Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries initiative. Visit www.ybonline.co.uk/tdy