IRELAND’S EDDIE DUNBAR was unable to maintain his challenge for a podium finish during the men’s U23 road race at the 2018 Road World Championships this afternoon.
The Team Sky rider finished 20th in the race at Innsbruck-Tirol in Austria. A strong performance saw him remain in contention deep into the closing stages, but ultimately fell short and dropped to the foot of the top 20 rankings.
Switzerland’s Marc Hirschi claimed gold after attacking on the descent and pulling clear of rivals Bjorg Lambrecht of Belgium in silver medal position and Finland’s Jaakko Hanninen who took bronze.
“That was a crucial point, it was not planned like this but we know we can descend well,” Hirschi said of his victory.
“We thought the descent was too easy to make any gaps, but with four riders ahead, it was a good situation for us.”
Dunbar was well in contention during the 179.9km course but didn’t have enough in the tank to power through final kilometres and finished 3:23 behind the reigning European road race champion.
Ireland’s Conn McDunphy also recorded an 84th place finish. Daire Feeley, Darragh O’Mahony and Michael O’Loughlin were the other Irish riders listed in the field. The three did not manage to finish however.
You can find the full list of today’s results here.