Eddie Dunbar claimed a fantastic victory on the penultimate stage of the An Post Rás this afternoon.
The young Cork rider was part of a five-man group that broke away from the main bunch on that day's major climb, the category one summit of Mount Leinster.
The group also included race leader Clemens Fankhauser and Australia National Team riders Jai Hindley, Michael Storer and Lucas Hamilton.
As the leaders approached the finish of the 155km stage from Dungarvan to Baltinglass, it became clear the stage winner would come from the breakaway, but despite their numerical advantage, Dunbar proved stronger than the Aussie contingent to take the spoils on the line.
The 19-year-old Team Ireland rider finished ahead of Hindley and Fankhauser, with the Austrian maintaining his narrow three-second advantage over Hindley in the overall classification as he looks to win the race for a second time in three years.
A late inclusion in to this year’s Rás, Dunbar was thrilled to take a victory in a race he has watched growing up as a youngster.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet. To win a stage on a UCI race in your home country is a dream come true.
"I’ve watched the race since I was knee high and I’ve always wanted to be one of the ‘men of the Rás’ so it’s a great feeling to be standing here as one of them. ”
Dunbar is up to fourth, 19 seconds back, while Damien Shaw drops to fifth, at 58 seconds, after missing out on the break.
And the youngster admitted it would be a tough task to wrestle back the lead held by Fankhauser.
“The Australian guys are really strong and so are the Austrian team so to overtake them on GC will be difficult. You just never know though, I’ll be giving it my all though and we’ll see what happens.”
Tomorrow's final stage sees the riders travel 148km from Kildare to the finish in Skerries.
