“It was all splitting up and guys like Pinot and Gallopin were attacking" - Teggart on his first race with the big guns.
Now with his first race under his belt as a Continental-level rider, Matt Teggart (20) at least knows something of what to expect in the weeks and months ahead.
He stepped into an environment yesterday in France that was completely new to him; going head to head with some of the biggest names in the sport.
He’s already a seasoned rider having spent the last couple years collecting valuable experiences riding full-time in France and also competing on foreign soil with the national team.
But when he rolled out of the start of the d’Ouverture La Marseillaise (UC 1.1) yesterday with just over 150km ahead of him he was doing so in a peloton of real quality; made up of Continental, ProConti and WorldTour teams.
Advertisement
The extent of the step up from racing at national level in France was underlined by Thibaut Pinot, the FDJ man who has finished on the podium of the Tour de France and taken stage wins in that event, starting right beside him.
It was a long way from his days at Banbridge CC but Teggart seemed to take it in his stride.
“It was definitely much quicker than I thought,” Teggart said when asked how it differed to the races he’s been riding in recent years.
“It was a totally different style of racing; being so controlled by the WorldTour lads but when they put the hammer down it's very quick.”
Related News
He would finish the race in the second chase group on the road, in 40th place at four minutes and with the majority of the field strung out further minutes back the road.
Teggart told stickybottle afterwards he was unlucky at a key point in the race.
“I was really well positioned all day and again for the last 30km when the race was really on,” he said of the contest won by French road race champion Arthur Vichot aided by team mate Pinot in the breakaway with him.
“We turned hard right onto the climb where everyone knew it would be decided,” explained Teggart.
“FDJ had it lined out and I was about 20 back and then some guy threw his chain off just in front of me and jumped off to fix it in my way.
“So I had to lock up the breaks and put my foot down to save myself, I had nowhere to go!”
Having lost momentum as the racing was going forward, Teggart slipped right back down the field by the time he got going again properly.
And while he was able to battle back towards the front again up the climb, the effort was the last thing he needed at that point.
“It was all splitting up and guys like Pinot and Gallopin were attacking so I just couldn't close the gap to the front 30,” he said of that group which crested the climb about 10 seconds off the front.
“I definitely would have been in with a better shot at making the split if I held my position at the bottom of the climb.”
That large group would split in two before the finish and Teggart would be in the next group.
While being with the leaders after the key climb with just under 30km remaining would have been incredible for his first race, he said the team rode really well.
They were aggressive from the gun and had a man in the early move and will now look to build on that solid start.
Topics
