Eddie Dunbar won a chaotic stage 19 of the Vuelta a España in the Anadalucian mountains on Friday, the Pinarello-Q36.5 rider attacked close to the top of the final climb, riding the final 500 metres alone.
Dunbar had been part of a four-man group which had emerged early on the final climb to Peñas Blancas, the group gradually extending their lead until King of the Mountains, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), attacked 2km from the line.
Dunbar remained patient, gradually pulling Buitrago back, attacking to beat the Colombian by 14 seconds. Dunbar’s teammate Thomas Gloag was third.
Starting the 18.8km final climb more than seven minutes behind the breakaway, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe did much of the early work on the climb for the GC group, before first race leader Enric Mas’s Movistar team, then EF Education-EasyPost took over.
Starting the day second overall, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked first, but the Slovenian was unable to take any time and the GC group finished together. As a result, Mas retains his overall lead with just two stages left, and another tough day in the mountains to come on Saturday. The GC group crossed the line 5:11 behind the leaders.
Eddie Dunbar of Pinarello - Q36.5 Pro Cycling attacks on the final ascent of the day (Image credit: Getty Images)
While the win was Dunbar’s third at the Vuelta, it was his first win in any race since those Spanish stage victories in 2024. He’s also suffered with injuries in recent years, taking there months off the bike this year alone, so was rightly emotional after the race.
“It’s incredible, I really didn’t expect this today,” the Irishman said. “I even said in the team radio after about 50 or 60 k that today wasn’t my day. I wasn’t feeling good. Then I ended up in the break and my legs came around a bit.
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“I had two teammates in the break as well, which always helps. That made me feel a lot more comfortable in the breakaway, and it just gave me a bit of a bit of time to relax, if anything happened on the flat or the descents that I had someone there.
“I really didn’t think I’d be here and even competing for stages, let alone yeah, just be here. So yeah, I can’t I can’t believe it. I can’t,” he said when asked about his injuries.
More to come...
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Results
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Stage 19 top 10
Rank
Name
Result
1
Edward Dunbar (Irl) Pinarello-Q36.5
5:00:54
2
Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious
0:0:14
3
Thomas Gloag (GBr) Pinarello-Q36.5
0:0:23
4
Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Kern Pharma
0:0:44
5
Marcel Camprubi Pijuan (Spa) Pinarello-Q36.5
0:01:44
6
Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
0:02:01
7
Guillaume Martin Guyonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United
A recent addition to the Cyclingnews staff, Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, working as a freelancer covering the sport for various magazines and websites for more than 10 years.
Initially concentrating mainly on the women's sport, he has covered hundreds of race days on the ground and interviewed some of the sport's biggest names.
Living near Cambridge in the UK, when he's not working you'll find him either riding his bike or playing drums.
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