Eddie Dunbar is relishing the start of the Vuelta a Espana for more than one reason.<\/p>\n
The Banteer, Co Cork native and the rest of the peloton will start the prestigious grand tour race in his adopted home town of Monaco on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Over 21 stages in the coming three weeks, the riders will wind their way through terrain in Monaco, France and Andorra before arriving in Spain on day five.<\/p>\n
But it’s also a significant Vuelta for Dunbar because it comes months after he suffered an ankle injury when he was hit by a scooter while riding a city bike around the streets of Monte Carlo.<\/p>\n
It meant he missed the Tour de France. But as he told RT\u00c9 Sport’s Eamon Horan in Monaco ahead of the Vuelta start, he was glad to return in time for the final grand tour of 2026.<\/p>\n
“Back in March, I was hit by a motorbike here in Monaco side on and got a bad injury to my ankle,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Basically crushed the bone you could say and I was in a boot for two months. So that was a difficult period to come back from and it’s basically been getting back into training over a couple of months and then done a bit of racing and now the Vuelta is on us.<\/p>\n
“So we’ll see how it goes. There’s no issues coming from my ankle now which is positive so it’s now all focus towards the Vuelta.”<\/p>\n
Dunbar detailed the circumstances that led up to the accident.<\/p>\n
“I was just going about everyday life. Me and (my girlfriend) Niamh were out, it was for her birthday because two days earlier I was after breaking a rib in Paris-Nice,” he explained.<\/p>\n
“So I was out leisurely and this happened. So it was a bit of an eye-opener as well just to show that these accidents can happen as well outside of sport.<\/p>\n
“Thankfully it’s behind me now. It was a difficult period for two to three months but I’m just looking forward to getting another grand tour under the belt.”<\/p>\n
The Pinarello Q36.5 team rider, who will turn 30 during the race, has plenty of pedigree at the Vuelta.<\/p>\n