"Moments like this don't come around too often" - Eddie Dunbar celebrates second stage win at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana

After a rough twelve months filled with crashes and disappointment, Eddie Dunbar has soared at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana. In one of his best ever displays, the Irishman attacked from the Red Jersey group on the final climb of stage 20, soloing to a stunning, second stage win of the Spanish Grand Tour.

Joining Pavel Sivakov at the head of the race with 3.5km to go, the Irishman didn't wait too long before attacking again and moving clear solo. Through the flamme rouge though, Dunbar was still 10 seconds clear and as the chase paused, O'Connor and Landa got back into contact with the Red Jersey group. Fighting through the crowds and the fog, Dunbar powered again inside the final 300m, soaring to his second stage win of the Grand Tour. 

"This one definitely feels a bit more sweeter," admitted the Team Jayco AlUla climber in his post-stage interview afterwards. "I said to a few people after the stage win last week that it was never the way in which I expected to win a Grand Tour stage. I always imagined it being on the top of a climb and yeah, I just felt good. I backed myself on that climb and paced myself really well."

"I knew this climb from a few years ago. We did it in Burgos in 2020 and I knew there was parts where it was steep and parts where it levelled out, a bit different to what it shows on the profile," Dunbar continues. "So I just paced it. I rode the steep parts hard and the flat bits conservatively to really try and make sure I had enough left in the tank."

"When Sivakov first attacked, I noticed no one reacted so I tried to follow. But BORA really started chasing then, so I thought there was no point in wasting bullets on a climb like this. I'm 12 minutes down so I knew I'd get a bit of leeway, I think they gave me that, but I'm just super happy that I could hold on today. The guys have done a super job the last few days, keeping me out of trouble and they really back me. We only have five guys here finishing the Vuelta but they all rode superbly," he concludes. "I've had good times, I've had bad times, but that's all part of the process I think. There's going to be more ups and more downs, that's just the way life is but moments like this don't come around too often."