IRELAND’S EDDIE DUNBAR has moved up to ninth in the general classification after Tuesday’s 10th stage at the Giro d’Italia.
Dunbar finished the day in 27th place in a group 51 seconds behind stage winner Magnus Cort Nielsen, and is now 2:32 behind leader Geraint Thomas in the race for the maglia rosa.
As the race resumed with a rain-sodden stage after Monday’s rest day, Thomas retained the pink jersey with no further changes in the top five since Remco Evenepoel quit the race Sunday night with Covid.
Cort was first home after his escape group managed to keep clear on an eventful 196km run from Scandiano to Viareggio.
The peloton closed to within 40 seconds of the breakaway, which also included Alessandro De Marchi and Derek Gee, but dangerously slippery road surfaces causing constant spills forced a prudent approach to the Viareggio finish line.
Cort, who lit up the Tour of France in 2022 romping through Denmark in the king of the mountains jersey, left his sprint until last in a three-way cat and mouse at the line.
Another Dane, Mads Pedersen, won the sprint from the pink jersey group 51 seconds down while the rest of the bedraggled peloton came in 11 minutes adrift with Australian Jay Vine definitively out of the running after starting the day in the top 10.
The race conditions were brutal on the 151 riders, down from an initial 176, as heavy showers, gusts of blustery wind and temperatures as unseasonably low as 3° Celcius on the stage’s high point of 1527m on the Passo de Radicci.
Ireland’s other rider in this year’s race, Ben Healy — who will be focusing his attention on another stage win after his victory last weekend — finished the day in 105th.
Baloucoune for me is one of the most underrated young talents in the country, if he played for Leinster there’d probably be a lot more hype about him but every time I’ve watched him he’s been exceptional ( apart from when he should have been red carded v munster). He’s physically very well able and has decent speed but probably the most impressive thing about him is his ability to do the little things right all of the time. You rarely see him make mistakes. Sorry to see him injured, it could have been a good 12 months for him with Ireland but he’ll be back, I’ve no doubt about that. Hope he mends quickly.
@Jim Demps: right, now that Jim has his jab at Leinster out of the way, why don’t we all just not respond to him lest ANOTHER 42 thread becomes a mudsling-fest (the very kind Jim SWEARS he hates)?
@omgraham: agreed, 3 articles, none about Leinster, Jim fits in a dig about Leinster on each, on form today! … Baloucoune was called into the 6 nations squad , Is that enough recognition for you Jim?
@Dennis Reynolds: it’s his own Dennis system:
D: Demonstrate value with knowledge of the game
E: Engage with every article written about rugby
N: Nurture the idea that he is unbiased by sometimes complimenting Leinster players (I have witnessed this phenomenon)
N: Neglect reasoning to take a pop at Leinster at every given opportunity, thus bringing out the worst of the 42
I: Inspire hope by announcing you’re leaving the hell hole you’ve created to discuss rugby like an adult in a WhatsApp group
S: Seperate from said group to make a dramatic comeback, as sour and transparent as ever
@Dennis Reynolds: A bit like the Leinster fans who continuously cut Munster on the Munster articles and mention how great Leinster are. I’ve not seen you criticise them or is that different?
Really disappointing for Robert. Hope he come back stronger. Lucky we have good depth out wide.
Similar to Paul O’Connell it seems, in how it happened. Hopefully nothing near as bad
@Gareth Ward: Hope it’s not. Because of his age chances are he might make a full recovery and hopefully he does
Shame for him and Ulster as he is a big time player who has already established himself as someone with that match winning X factor quality.
Ulster don’t have the strength in depth and can ill afford to be missing players of his ability.
At least he has age on his side and that hopefully will lead to a full and speedy recovery
The 42 should stop with the injuries stories today.
@Chris Mc: Pretty bad news day all round isnt it