The inaugural European Games have been taking place this week in Baku in Azerbaijan, and the Men’s Road Race takes place tomorrow. It will be one of the few opportunities that professional cyclists have to race in their nation’s colours.
It’s somewhat of a strange startlist for the race. Whilst a number of countries including Belgium and the Netherlands are sending teams with some big hitters, other countries such as Poland and Switzerland have selected teams with names that would not be as recognisable. It’s also interesting to see that some big European countries, such as Great Britain and Germany do not have teams in the race.
The Irish team comprises of the An Post-Chain Reaction quartet of Sean Downey, Ryan Mullen, Conor Dunne and Jack Wilson. The fifth rider is Eddie Dunbar of NFTO-Aberdeen Asset Management. Mullen has shown that he is in great form by taking eighth place in the Time-Trial at the games earlier in the week, so he could put up a good performance tomorrow.
Eddie Dunbar meanwhile, appears to have recovered from his crash at the Tour de Yorkshire in May, and it would be surprising if the aggressive Cork rider doesn’t attack at some stage. Conor Dunne could ride well also, and came close to a stage win when he last raced in Azerbaijan in May, where he came third on one of the stages of the national tour.
Amongst the favourites for the race are Belgium’s Tom Boonen, his Etixx-Quick Step team-mate Niki Terpstra representing the Netherlands and Italy’s Elia Viviani. Boonen won the Rund um Koln recently aswell as taking a stage win in the Tour of Belgium, so he is obviously in good form. He will have good back-up with the likes of Tiesj Benoot and Stijn Vandenberghe on the team.
Former Paris-Roubaix winner, Niki Terpstra, has withdrawn from the Critérium du Dauphine and Tour of Belgium recently, so his form is unknown. However, based on his numerous top performances in the past number of years, he can’t be ruled out. Viviani competed in the Giro d’Italia and had a number of top ten placings, so has to be considered a contender. Others who could ride well are Julian Alaphilippe of France, Spain’s Luis Leon Sanchez who medaled in the time trial during the week and Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus who won the time trial.
