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Eddie Dunbar wins stage 11 of the Vuelta a España.

Vuelta stage 11 report: Dunbar wins from the break as O’Connor’s lead shrinks

Eddie Dunbar takes his first ever Grand Tour stage victory in a frantic finale in Galicia.

Dane Cash
by Dane Cash 28.08.2024 Photography by
Cor Vos
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Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla) took his first ever Grand Tour stage win as Vuelta a España leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) shipped a bit of time to his rivals in the frantic finale of Wednesday’s stage 11.

Dunbar bided his time amid a flurry of late attacks out of the day’s break until making his own bid for glory in the last kilometer of the lumpy stage in Galicia. The move paid off for the 27-year-old Irishman, who soloed to the win ahead of Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich).

Back in the GC group, Primož Roglič and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe worked hard on the final climb to distance O’Connor and they did just that. The Australian ultimately arrived more than half a minute behind Roglič and a few other red jersey hopefuls, and although he remains atop the GC standings, he now has less time to play with as higher mountains loom.

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How it happened

It’s weird how it goes sometimes. I had a really bad start to the race and I lost a lot of time. I came here to race GC and I learned pretty quickly that I didn’t have the legs to do it. My preparation was really good here so then it was kind of reassess and go for a stage.

—Eddie Dunbar after his stage 11 win
Ben O'Connor on stage 11 of the Vuelta a España.
Ben O’Connor still leads the Vuelta, but his advantage shrunk on stage 11.

Brief analysis

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Stage 12 from Ourense Termal to Estación de Montaña de Manzaneda is very short at 137.4 km, and it will probably be raced very fast. The stage win will all come down to that Cat. 1 finishing climb, which is a stairstep affair with a tough stretch near the top before things ease off again. A certain three-time Vuelta GC winner should like his chances to either drop his rivals or best them in a sprint to the line as he has done so many times in his career.

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