Twenty-four hours between a career high and surgery
Eddie Dunbar won a Vuelta a Espana stage on Friday. On Saturday he hit the road with eleven kilometres left to ride. This morning his team confirmed the damage: a fractured left collarbone that needs surgery, and no start in Granada.
The crash came on the run towards the foot of the Collado del Alguacil, the final climb of the queen stage. Dunbar had been sitting in a first chase group of more than fifty riders that came apart across the day, and the race medical bulletin put him down on his left side after 175 kilometres. Pinarello Q36.5 confirmed the fracture afterwards.
Try it for $0.99.
The team statement
“Unfortunately, Eddie Dunbar sustained a collarbone fracture on the left side during Stage 20 of La Vuelta a Espana, so he had to withdraw from the race and will undergo surgery,” the Swiss team said.
That stage 19 win, taken by passing Santiago Buitrago late on the climb to Penas Blancas, was the first Grand Tour stage victory in the team’s history. It also closed out a long rebuild for the Irishman. He broke his ankle in a collision in March. Earlier in his career he suffered broken collarbones, broke a hand in consecutive years in 2023 and 2024, and lost stretches of racing to a knee problem.
What he loses next
Dunbar had intended to finish his season at the Italian autumn classics. Surgery and the recovery that follows make that unlikely. He was one of three riders to leave the race on stage 20, alongside Matthew Riccitello of Decathlon CMA CGM and Chris Hamilton of Picnic-PostNL, both of whom went down at high speed early in the day.
Discover the rest of our Cycling news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply