Eddie Dunbar won’t start stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia after crashing on the second day and suffering a knee injury and bodily abrasions.
The Irishman was involved in the innocuous crash alongside sprinter Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) and teammate Filippo Zana on the entry to a roundabout 62km from the finish, with the actual moment of him hitting the deck not caught by television cameras.
However, Dunbar was spotted limping after the incident before eventually remounting his bike and struggling on the summit finish to Oropa, losing 5:56 to Tadej Pogačar as he crossed the line way down in 51st on the day.
Despite managing to see out the stage, his team Jayco-AlUla announced this morning that he wouldn’t be able to start the third day from Novara to Fossano.
“Unfortunately following a crash on stage two of the Giro d’Italia, Eddie Dunbar will not start today’s third stage,” read a statement from the team.
“The Irishman was able to finish the stage, but after further examinations by the team doctor, the decision has been made to withdraw the 27-year-old from the race due to a sustained injury under his right kneecap and bodily abrasions.”
Dunbar was seventh at last year’s Giro d’Italia and had been sat fourth for the opening two weeks until he lost time on the summit finish to Tre Cime di Lavaredo and Monte Lussari time trial.
He’s had a run of bad luck in the past few seasons with injury and illness often interrupting his preparations for big races. Just this season, he suffered his second broken hand in as many years at the UAE Tour and also only managed to finish one of the five stage races he had started this year.
Dunbar is just the second rider to abandon this year’s Giro d’Italia after Robert Gesink (Visma-Lease a Bike) was unable to start stage 2 and left the race with a broken hand.
He now leaves Luke Plapp and Zana to try and salvage a GC run for the Australian team, but they both sit a long way back from Pogačar in the lead in 18th and 21st respectively and over two minutes down.
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