The Resilient Rise of Eddie Dunbar

The Corkman has had a frustrating run of form, but 7th in 2023's Giro d'Italia is enough to keep the faith that his time will come.

As the curtain closes on the 2024 Giro d’Italia, with the indomitable Slovenian Tadej Pogačar taking his first ever pink jersey, attentions quickly turn to the 111th edition of the Tour de France at the end of June.

And for Corkman Eddie Dunbar, it remains to be seen if he will saddle up with Team Jayco–AlUla in his first outing on the legendary French Grand Tour roads.

Following a devastating crash and injury which put paid to his 2024 Giro d’Italia earlier this month, Dunbar was unable to follow up his impressive seventh place finish in 2023’s edition of the Giro, an incredible outing in his first grand tour as a team leader with Jayco-AlUla.

The 27-year-old had been ear-marked as a strong contender for another high finish leading the line for his team this year in Italy. Sadly, a collision with teammate Filippo Zana and Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij on stage two of the competition saw a disappointing premature end to his campaign.

This followed on from a tough 2023 Vuelta a España where he withdrew after five stages following a series of crashes on slippery terrain. This compounded a very frustrating run of form for Dunbar, who has now fallen eight times in competition in 16 months, in addition to a spate of injuries, including a broken hand which delayed his start to the 2023 campaign.

Matt White, lead sporting director with the Jayco AlUla squad, has backed his rider, saying none of the falls have been down to any wrongdoing on Dunbar’s behalf,

“It is just bad luck. The crash he had in the UAE Tour, there was a crash in front of him and he had stopped and clipped out. Then someone ran into him from behind. It is just bad luck.”

Speaking earlier this month, White remained coy about Dunbar embarking on a French tour, suggesting that he could be better geared towards another crack at the Vuelta later this year:

“The Tour is not totally out of the question, but we’ve got climbers for the Tour. Look, he’s got a preparation now that would probably allow it. But we have to wait and see.”

“But now with the Giro out, I would like to see him focus on being at his best for the Vuelta and have another crack at the top 10 there.”

Although a tour debut has so far evaded the North Cork rider, he would be a welcome addition to a competition steeped in proud Irish representation. Ireland hasn’t had a rider in the Tour since the 2021 outing and Dan Martin’s 40th place finish, which followed up an excellent 2020 race for Sam Bennett who notched two stage victories on way to a historic win in the Points Classification, joining four-time winner Sean Kelly.

Speaking to the Second Captains podcast last year, Dunbar spoke of the risks involved with road racing and the many challenges he’s faced over the years, riding at speeds of over 90 kilometers an hour down steep hills and dangerous bends, with dozens of other riders for company.

“It’s something you have to block out of your head. The minute you think of the risk involved, like you’re millimeters to the guy right and left of you and the amount of trust you’re putting into these guys to do their job right and you’re going to do your job right, it’s fairly scary when you think about it.”

He spoke about his litany of injuries, including broken collarbones, broken hands, AC joints and the many cuts and bruises, but explained how a concussion sustained in the 2017 edition of the Baby Giro, the U23 equivalent of the Giro d’Italia, was by far his most damaging incident.

“The one that you can’t see. The one that probably your friends and family probably see more than I saw.”

“The effects didn’t kick in after 24 hours, it was a progression of getting worse. Constant pain in my head. Anytime I hit a pothole, anytime I went over a bump, I had this pain in my head and I thought this isn’t right. And I didn’t stop and kept going."

“Concussion was never really a big thing in cycling. It’s getting a lot better now, there’s protocols and everything, but it was never to the extent rugby is, for instance.”

“Complete personality change. I was an emotional wreck, crying once or twice a day, completely out of character. The sleep was really getting to me. Night sweats, couldn’t bare bright lights, loud noises I couldn’t hack, even concentration watching a movie was difficult.”

It was a difficult road to wander for Dunbar, but overcoming such difficult symptoms put everything into perspective for him as a rider, making him appreciate life even more. Spending time with Steve Peters, the noted sports psychologist who has helped the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan in the past, helped Dunbar manage that immense risk in his mind and take his ability to the next level.

Dunbar lost his father when he was 13 to polycystic kidney disease, a man he described as a lover of the Tour de France and inspiring Eddie’s entry into cycling. His father sported a Livestrong armband, taking support from Lance Armstrong’s battles with cancer, and has ingrained a steadfast resilience in Dunbar to overcome his own challenges and one day embark on the Tour de France.

Telling Eoin McDevitt on the Second Captains episode, “to be successful in sport you need to be confident. Of course I’d love to win the Tour de France and I’m going to do everything I can to even get to that level to even compete to win it.

“I’ll definitely try, that’s for sure.”

It has been far from the smoothest of paths for Dunbar in his career, but with so many falls he has risen each time with a mental determination that will be a strong match for the twists and turns of the French summits.

He has kept the faith, and whether he embarks on his first Tour de France or not, Dunbar clearly remains committed on climbing to the very top.