Matt Brammeier says his first two stage races in Qatar and Oman have been great for his form so far
By Brian Canty
Three-time Irish national road race champion, Matt Brammeier said he is feeling better and better as his second stage race of the 2013 season reaches its conclusion.
The Champions System rider performed solidly in last week’s Tour of Qatar and has followed that up this week at the Tour of Oman, which concludes tomorrow, Saturday, with a 144 kilometre flat stage.
This week has seen the world’s best riders show some excellent early season form with Chris Froome (Team Sky) taking the race lead, Peter Sagan (Cannondale) illustrating why he is the most talked about rider at the moment with great stage wins, and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Cadel Evans (BMC) all showing up well.
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But Brammeier isn’t overawed.
“I’m actually feeling better and better as the race goes on,” he told stickybottle after today’s fifth stage from Al Alam Palace to Ministry of Housing in Boshar.
“I'm a bit of a diesel engine so it sometimes takes me time to get better during a stage race. But I’m fit and healthy with no problems. I feel like I will be ready for the opening weekend in Belgium next week,” he added.
“It’s always nice to get some warm weather races on nice roads at the start of the year. I would have preferred some more wind last week in Qatar but you can’t have it all.”
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The heat, he added, hasn’t been as much of a factor as it appears on the television coverage of the race.
“I’ve only really had one day where I felt the heat was an issue; we hit a long steep climb a couple of days ago and it was baking hot. We were riding steady tempo, around 400watts, but it almost killed me!”
His new equipment and bike position are something he’s also just getting used to, but he said he is very happy so far.
“I’m really happy with the bike. It took me a little while to get my position the same but it’s such a stiff bike and handles really well. I’m climbing okay too with it. The first hill in a race always feels horrible. I'm not a climber, but getting up them in good shape and in some good company.”
He also said the set-up provided by the race organisers in Oman has been fantastic.
“Everything we need, we get, and to a great standard. We are in a six-star hotel so I wouldn’t expect much less.”
And what about Peter Sagan who left the peloton for dead on two separate days before claiming stage wins?
“He’s pretty special alright. He seems to be just playing with us all. I'd say he has the potential to be the best talent of the last five years, but so far he lacks the CV to back that up. I’m sure that won’t last long though if he keeps riding like he is.”
Brammeier was 108th on today’s hilly stage, in a group some 12:48 behind stage winner and overall leader Froome. The Irishman is now 118th overall, some 31:25 down on Froome.
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