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Eddie Dunbar is relishing the start of the Vuelta a Espana for more than one reason. The Banteer, Co Cork native and the rest of the peloton will start the prestigious grand tour race in his adopted home town of Monaco on Saturday. Over 21 stages in the coming three weeks, the riders will wind their way through terrain in Monaco, France and Andorra before arriving in Spain on day five. But it's also a significant Vuelta for Dunbar because it comes months after he suffered an ankle injury when he was hit by a scooter while riding a city bike around the streets of Monte Carlo. It meant he missed the Tour de France. But as he told RTÉ Sport's Eamon Horan in Monaco ahead of the Vuelta start, he was glad to return in time for the final grand tour of 2026. "Back in March, I was hit by a motorbike here in Monaco side on and got a bad injury to my ankle," he said. "Basically crushed the bone you could say and I was in a boot for two months. So that was a difficult period to come back from and it's basically been getting back into training over a couple of months and then done a bit of racing and now the Vuelta is on us. "So we'll see how it goes. There's no issues coming from my ankle now which is positive so it's now all focus towards the Vuelta." Dunbar detailed the circumstances that led up to the accident. "I was just going about everyday life. Me and (my girlfriend) Niamh were out, it was for her birthday because two days earlier I was after breaking a rib in Paris-Nice," he explained. "So I was out leisurely and this happened. So it was a bit of an eye-opener as well just to show that these accidents can happen as well outside of sport. "Thankfully it's behind me now. It was a difficult period for two to three months but I'm just looking forward to getting another grand tour under the belt." The Pinarello Q36.5 team rider, who will turn 30 during the race, has plenty of pedigree at the Vuelta. Among his accolades are two stage wins there in 2024. But he is cautious about the prospect of repeating those feats this time round given the adversity he has faced in the build-up. "Just to get through the three weeks will be a positive start especially after the season I've had," he said. "I'll probably suffer a lot the first week. It's going to be quite hot as well and hopefully by the third week I can build up a bit of condition that I can be competitive and try to win a stage. That will probably be the main goal." On the highs of 2024, he added: "Two years ago, I had a really good run there and came away with two stage wins. One from a break, one from the GC group which was nice to win two stages but nice to have two different styles of winning as well and that gave me a massive boost mentally and it was a long time coming." Dunbar added that it was special to start this year's race virtually on his doorstep in Monaco. "I know the roads much better than some of the guys that are here," he said. "But we'll all probably get to do a recon Saturday morning anyway, so everyone will have a fair idea of it by the time the race starts. "But there will be an extra bit of motivation. We're basically passing my apartment as well so it's as close to home as I'll probably get to starting a grand tour. "I always say I won't start a grand tour in Banteer or Kanturk in my career, that's for sure."