Tour of Britain – Eddie Dunbar (NFTO)

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Chatting to Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar (NFTO) prior to the Aviva Tour of Britain about what he’s looking forward to

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Tour of Britain – Eddie Dunbar (NFTO)

With just a few minutes before Eddie headed out on an easy ride with his NFTO teammates, I caught up with him at his hotel and he admits it’s great to finish the season off with the a race like the Tour of Britain, his first stage race this year after the Tour of Yorkshire where he crashed on stage 1 and broke his collarbone.

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“This is definitely going to be a big experience” he said of riding the country’s biggest pro race. “I’ve been all over the place recently, travelling to different races, European Championships and Ride London as well.”

Asked what he is looking forward to most in the Tour of Britain, he replies “just the atmosphere of racing against the top guys. I definitely prefer this type of racing because it’s a lot more professional and there’s a lot more respect in the bunch”.

“The racing is also better with a structure to the race which is good and I am looking forward to getting back to that high level of racing.”

Asking about his goals, Eddie admits he’s not sure having not raced for a month and he’ll wait to see how it goes when the race starts on Sunday. Quizzed as to whether the KoM jersey may be a target, he replied “Possibly. I think that is a realistic aim to go for something like that and then maybe one day I’ll catch them out and go for a stage win.”

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“It will depend on how I feel tomorrow (Sunday) and if I feel good, I’ll soon know what I am capable of.”

Eddie’s race program consisted of Ride London where he was in the second group right up there in the mix before he then went to the European Championships for the time trial and road race. He then headed to Girona for a ten day training camp.

“We did a really good block of training out there with the Tour of Britain team and it was really hard. I then came back and tapered down a bit to go into the Tour of Britain as fresh as possible. All the lads are riding really strong and the atmosphere is good too so we’re  all looking forward to it.”

Eddie is known for his aggressive style of racing and he admits he’s looking forward to the early skirmishes in the stage to try and make the days move. “I think with only six riders in each team, that will help to make it that bit more aggressive. The stages are long as well so there’s going to be some real hard racing and I hope I can enjoy it”.

One of the dangers for a rider like Eddie though is the thought of being ‘trapped’ in a peloton that is being controlled. That, he says, will be a new experience. “Because I’m young, I’m eager to push on and the racing I have done is no-where near as controlled as this will be”.

“I suppose because I have just come out of the junior ranks where you go as hard as you can for two or three hours, I am going to have to learn to sit in a bunch and position myself well. I will try and make the most of my eagerness while I have it!”

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When the road goes uphill, Eddie goes fullgas! #hitter

Eddie says he’s recced a few of the stages and knows the up and down all day second stage in Lancashire and the one that finishes at Hartside, a summit finish he’s looking forward to getting involved in.

“The second stage is very technical, it’s only a hundred miles I think but it’s a real hard course, tight roads all day, twisty, turny, and real tough. That will be an interesting day”.

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