"It almost looks like the Tour de France" - Stacked Vuelta startlist doesn't intimidate Eddie Dunbar

Eddie Dunbar put in a very impressive performance earlier this year at the Giro d'Italia, finishing 7th overall after threatening a podium finish. The Irishman will be looking to repeat his high level at the upcoming Vuelta a Espana.

“My training has been going good after Poland and I’ve been putting in a few finishing touches to my training and I’m looking forward to getting started in Barcelona," the Irishman, who will turn 27 during the Spanish Grand Tour told Team Jayco AlUla's official website after their lineup was revealed. "The course is fairly difficult this year, I think on paper there can be 13 ‘GC days’, so it’s going to be intense all three weeks and you’re going to have to be switched on all the time."

"The stages look a bit shorter than the Giro, but like I said, I think it will be more intense racing with steeper climbs. The Tourmalet and L’Angliru will be decisive stages and it will be important to be ‘on it’ during those days," Dunbar continues before referencing the stacked lineup that is set to take part, including the likes of Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Geraint Thomas, Remco Evenepoel and more.

"It looks like a stacked GC field, it almost looks like the Tour de France, and it will be interesting to see how it is raced. I’ve only ever watched the Vuelta on TV, but it’s going to be a different race to the Giro I expect," Dunbar concludes. "For me it’s just about going in and doing our best like we did at the Giro and we have a good squad to do that. The aim is to be there or thereabouts in the GC again, in the Giro it went pretty good, I was up there on the hard stages and if we can repeat that at the Vuelta and finish off a bit stronger, I think a good GC result can be on the cards for sure.”