"I just tried limiting my losses" - GC hopes already fading for Eddie Dunbar at the Vuelta a Espana

After an impressive Giro d'Italia earlier this year, Eddie Dunbar came to the Vuelta a Espana full of hope and optimism. It's fair to say though, that the first three stages haven't exactly gone to plan for the Irishman.

“It wasn’t my best day on the bike," said the Team Jayco AlUla leader post-race in quotes collected by the Irish Times. "I suffered a lot. I just tried limiting my losses, really. Hopefully it might come good in the next few days.”

Already over three and half minutes down on race leader Remco Evenepoel, Dunbar's hopes of emulating the great Sean Kelly and taking the Red Jersey back to Ireland now look slim. “It is just tough. I think when you are one of the teams who were riding on the front today, it made it a lot easier [for their leaders] in the middle of the peloton," he says, looking to explain the poor form. "At the back the accelerations were hard and that builds up over a 150K stage."

Alongside perhaps not having the best of legs, this is the first time Dunbar has raced two Grand Tours in a year, a pair of crashes on the opening stage can't have helped matters. Nevertheless, he isn't looking to make excuses. "Maybe those guys were a bit fresher coming into the climb. I just don’t have the legs at the moment.”