Eddie Dunbar will leave Jayco-AlUla and race for Q36.5 in 2026, teaming up with Tom Pidcock to aim for future Grand Tour success.
The 28-year-old Irish rider won two stages at the 2024 Vuelta a España, including the final mountain stage to Picón Blanco. He is expected to ride the Vuelta again this year, as a rival to Pidcock and Q36.5, but will then join the Swiss-registered ProTeam for 2026 and 2027.
Dunbar is 36.5's first major signing for 2026 but others are expected to follow as the team strengthens its roster to support Pidock and chase points to secure invitations to more Grand Tours and WorldTour races.
Jayco has signed new Italian national champion Filippo Conca from the innovative Swatt Club amateur team but lost sprinter Dylan Groenewegen to Unibet Tietema Rockets.
"The Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team is obviously a team on the up, which is a good sign. They are really competitive in races, take it on even if they don’t win and create a good racing atmosphere riding as one," Dunbar said in a press release when Q36.5 announced his signing.
"Grand Tours suit me well because I always get better towards the end. I absorb the workload of a three-week race well. There have been glimpses of what I can do but due to crashes and illness I haven’t reached my full potential there yet. That’s something for the next two years.
"The team has already done some big races, and I hope I will play my part in the future ones. Winning a race is never easy but when there is an opportunity, I am ready to take my chance."
Dunbar first showed his talents while riding for Axel Merckx's Axeon Hagens Berman development team. He turned professional with the troubled Aqua Blue Sport team and then moved to Ineos Grenadiers (then Sky) midway through 2018 before joining Jayco in 2023.
He showed his stage race skills by winning the Tour de Hongrie and the Settimana Coppi e Bartali in 2022 but crashes and injury disrupted his 2023 and 2024 seasons before he bounced back to win two stages at the 2025 Vuelta.
He was caught up in a crash on stage 7 of this year's Tour de France, the day after finishing fourth from the break in Vire Normandie and was a DNS the following day He has already returned to racing at the recent Arctic Race of Norway.
Dunbar worked with Q36.5 directeur sportif Kurt Bogaerts at Ineos and they will be reunited for 2026.
"When Kurt Bogaerts – who I know well from my time at Ineos – joined, my interest was sparked even more," Dunbar explained.
"I know how he works. I also spoke to [Q36.5 team boss] Doug Ryder on how the team is going and what they expect. In Tom they have a clear leader which is always good for any team so it seems like a good moment now to join with my knowledge and experience."
"Eddie is a very interesting rider I know well," Bogaerts said, welcoming Dunbar to Q36.5 for 2026.
"He can climb, time trial and is punchy by nature. He has already shown great things in smaller stage races but also won two stages in the Vuelta and has ridden in support of team leaders often too. He is versatile and quite adapted to hard races. I am happy he will be with us."
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