Eddie Dunbar on his way to his brilliant stage win yesterday, but now he is sadly out of La Vuelta after a very heavy crash that may end his season (Photo: Antonio Baixauli)
Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) has been brought crashing down to earth just 24 hours after he rescued his crash-hit season with an epic, and tactically perfect, mountain stage win at La Vuelta.
While he started today’s penultimate stage 20 on top of the world, he did not finish the race, after a very heavy crash. And the injuries he sustained may put an end to his season.
Darren Rafferty (EF Education EasyPost) was, like Dunbar before his crash, on the attack today. He spent over 60km up the road before an eventual 81st place finish.
Details of how and where Irish climber Dunbar came down were not immediately clear. The incident was not caught by the TV cameras, which is perhaps not surprising considering the sheer number of groups on the road today.
However, he came down very hard on his shoulder and was forced to abandon. His first port of call was to be brought for medical checks to establish if he had broken his collarbone.
His Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling team had not made any comment on the incident, or Dunbar’s withdrawal from the race, at the time of writing.
However, if it is confirmed he broke his collarbone – though hopefully that will not be the case – it would surely bring an end to his 2026 campaign.
The incident on today’s stage 20 – an absolutely feast of racing, won by Mikel Landa (Soudal QuickStep) – is a bitter blow for Dunbar, who was on the attack again early in the stage.
Not only did it floor him after he had impressed so much to win on the summit finish of Peñas Blancas, but it obviously means he does not get to finish the race so close to the final day.
Dunbar was building his early season around a tilt at Giro d’Italia, which he finished 7th overall in three years ago, but two crashes in March ensured that was off the table.
He broke a rib at Paris-Nice on March 9th after avoiding a crash ahead of him. As he was stopped in the road, he was hit by another rider from behind, shunting him into his bars.
And after going back to his base in Monaco, the next day he was on his bike when hit by a motorcyclist who burst out of a side road and ran over Dunbar’s ankle.
The motorcycle crushed bone and tissue, forcing Dunbar to spend three months in a boot before he could even ride his bike again.
And now, having won his fitness battle to start La Vuelta, and then taken a stage win for the ages, he is now in recovery mode again.
He crashed on the road to Collado del Alguacil today, having spent over 50km in the breakaway before his mishap.
Hopefully, the diagnosis is as positive as it can be, which would give him a chance at the late season Italian one-day races he has in his plans.