Eddie Dunbar believes he is in course for his goal of a top 10 overall finish in the Giro d’Italia, saying he expects to make further progress in the first of this season’s Grand Tour races.
Dunbar was sitting 11th overall in the event on Monday’s first rest day, moving up a slot after race leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) withdrew due to Covid-19.
“I think things have gone as well as they could have in the first week,” said Dunbar. “I did lose 19 seconds on stage two getting caught up in that crash, and knew I’d lose a bit in the time-trials, but it’s so far, so good.”
Dunbar missed two months of racing due to a fractured hand and said before the Giro that he felt he would build fitness as the race progressed. Sitting 11th overall at this point exceeds his expectations. “My form is probably a bit better than I expected it, given the lack of racing,” he said. “I’m just shy of the top 10 at the moment, and with a few harder days to come.
Your complete guide to all the festive sporting action including TV details
Irish Times Sportswoman of the Year Awards: ‘The greatest collection of women in Irish sport in one place ever assembled’
Two-time Olympic champion Kellie Harrington named Irish Times/Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Year 2024
Pub staff struggled to keep up with giddy Shamrock Rovers fans who enjoyed every moment of Chelsea trip
“There’s one or two hard stages over the next six days, and that last week you’ve two or three stages where hopefully a few guys in front of me will feel it a bit. Hopefully I don’t, and I can move up.”
Dunbar is a specialist climber and is relishing the bigger mountains ahead. He said the days already raced were technical ones where you had to be vigilant and keep good positioning in the bunch.
“They were the tricky ones. The other stages when you get into the Dolomites and the couple of stages in the Swiss Alps, they’re more just about legs. It’s not super technical. It’s just literally having that tempo on the climbs and staying with the front group as long as possible.
“I’m still confident I’m going in a good direction. And I’m feeling good. It’s kind of up to the road then to decide how fast we go and how hard we go, I guess.”
Dunbar’s Jayco-AlUla team rode 45 kilometres on Monday’s rest day, stopping to have a coffee along the way. He was due to further boost his recovery by having a massage, then taking the remainder of the day easy. The race continues until Sunday week and he knows it’s all about sparing energy and gauging his effort.
“I’ll do my best over the next two weeks to creep into this top 10,” he said. “And see how it goes, maybe try to get up there for a stage win. It would be nice to do that.”
Meanwhile, Saturday’s stage eight winner Ben Healy has said that he has set his sights on taking another victory at the race. He spoke on the rest day about the reaction his success earned, and how it is has motivated him.
“It was pretty insane last week. My phone was just going crazy,” the EF Education-EasyPost rider said. “My family were pretty made up. My parents have invested a lot into me and to be able to pay them back was pretty special. With the team, everyone was so happy. It was just a really nice feeling to be able to pay the team back and give the fans something exciting to watch.
“The sacrifice everyone has made for me to put me in a position, to show it was worth it was super ... A really good feeling.”
The Giro d’Italia continues on Tuesday with a hilly 196-kilometre stage to Viareggio.
