Eddie Dunbar forced to abandon Vuelta a España after crash

Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar has been forced to abandon the Vuelta a España, with a crash in the neutralised section of Wednesday’s stage ending his race.

Dunbar has been plagued by bad luck in the event, with the lingering effects of two crashes in Saturday’s team time trial in Barcelona seeing him lose time on Monday’s summit finish to Arinsal and then Tuesday’s race to Tarragona.

His Jayco AlUla team told The Irish Times on Tuesday evening that he was taking the race day by day but hoping to recover, but sadly his fall on Wednesday brings an end to his race. He was the only Irish competitor in the event.

Details are scarce at the moment as to the nature of his injuries.

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Dunbar took a fine seventh place overall in the Giro d’Italia in May, his second time to ride a three-week race and his first time to do so as a team leader. He believed he was in strong form heading into the Vuelta and aimed to better that performance, but will have to wait until next year before aiming high in another Grand Tour.

It remains to be seen if his season is over or if he will be able to recover in time for later events.

The Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) is leading overall. Wednesday’s stage take the riders 186.2km to Burriana.