Eddie Dunbar puts in a mega TT performance on the road to Saint-Peray during the 17.4km test at Criterium du Dauphiné (Photo: Vincent Kalut-PN-Sprint Cycling Agency)

Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) gave us the first look at his much improved TT riding at Tirreno Adriatico back in March but today, at Criterium du Dauphiné, he demonstrated abilities against the watch that make him a genuine general classification contender.

In a field that includes the very best general classification riders in the world, Dunbar scorched around the 17.4km course, from Charmes-sur-Rhône to Saint-Péray, in an average speed of 47.449kmph.

And when all the riders were done with their efforts, his time of 21:59 secured for him 8th place on the stage. That would perhaps not be a result of particular significance for other riders who have won Grand Tour stages, as Dunbar has. But it confirms the Cork man’s transformation to a GC rider – who can both TT and climb – is complete.

Last year, when Dunbar was knocked out of racing for a time due to crash injuries, he returned to the fray at the National Road Championships in Limerick, where he won the elite TT. And the work he did on his time trialing, which delivered that title, has clearly continued since then, making Dunbar a much more serious contender in major stage races.

The TT was won today by the world champion, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), in a time of 20:50. That was 21 seconds faster than Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) 3rd at 38 seconds.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was back in 4th place, some 49 seconds down on Evenepoel and 28 seconds slower than Vingegaard, who is seen as his main rival for the Tour de France title next month. Dunbar was 8th at 1:09.

And after gaining 41 seconds on his general classification rivals with a 170km breakaway ride yesterday, Dunbar remains 6th after today’s TT. He holds that position with a lot of climbing to come that should really suit him. He is now just 30 seconds off new race leader Evenepoel.

After the Belgian in yellow, the impressive young German Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) is in 2nd place overall, at four seconds. And yesterday’s stage winner – who was in the breakaway with Dunbar and Lipowitz – is Iván Romeo (Movistar Team), losing his yellow jersey today but still just nine seconds down.

Then comes Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), in 4th at 14 seconds, followed by Vingegaard, 5th at 16 seconds, and then Dunbar. The Irish rider is 6th at 30 seconds and equal on time with Pogačar in 7th.

Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost), riding this race for the first time, put in a decent TT today – in a discipline not really suited to the climber – finishing in 50th place at 2:23. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) was 106th at 3:29, continuing his time losses ahead of an expected assault on a stage win when the race reaches the mountains on Friday.

The race continues tomorrow with 183km from Saint-Priest to Mâcon, which is undulating but could end in a sprint from a reduced bunch. However, after that the remaining three stages all involved hard uphill finishes.