Matt Brammeier sounds ready and willing to do the best job he can for the Irish team at the World Road Race Championships in a couple of weeks, but seems doubtful he will be picked.
By Brian Canty
Four-time National Road Race Champion, Matt Brammeier has said he would love to ride the World Championships later this month to help the Irish team try to achieve what he sees as a very realistic goal of winning a medal. But he is not holding his breath about being selected.
The Champion System strongman is currently in Belgium racing a packed programme of pro kermesse events, honing his form for his team's two big goals next month; the Tour of Beijing and Tour of Hainan.
While many would regard the reigning national champion as a very strong candidate to fill the final berth on the four man Worlds team - joining Philip Deignan, Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche - the selectors have stalled on naming the final team member.
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“I spoke to them in Cycling Ireland a few weeks ago and I contacted them recently but I can’t get any word," he said.
"I don’t know. I’ll leave it to them. If they want to take me I’ll go and I’ll be happy to do a job. But I’m not kicking and screaming. I’m sure they’re going to try and do their best not to take me. It is what it is, I’d like to go and help Dan.”
“I spoke with Brian (Nugent, head coach) maybe two months ago now and he basically told me there were four riders on the list; three already selected and myself and they’d pick three from that. But now we have four riders qualified and I assumed I’d be the fourth guy."
"But obviously there’s a new list now, I don’t know. You can never keep track. I just leave them to it. They’ll do their job and I’ll do mine and if they need me, I’ll be there."
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Brammeier was overlooked for Olympic selection last year and made no secret of his frustration afterwards, admitting he felt hard done by. But after a very good debut season with his new Asian-registered team, he thinks if anyone can do the job of domestique two weeks on Sunday, it’s him.
“It’s what my job has been for the last few years and in my opinion I’m best suited to that. I’ve said that all along; I’m paid to do it day in, day out. I don’t know, there’s nothing more I can say about the selection".
He insisted he has the desire to ride for Ireland in two weeks, something he has already done in the past at a Worlds. In 2010, he was the first to attack in Geelong, Australia, and spent over 200 kilometres in the break.
“Of course I’d love to be there, not only to help Dan but to represent my country. The World Championships are always nice to do, and even more so because Dan is a friend. We have a shot at winning the world championships and it’s not every year you can say that."
“Hopefully Dan can get a bit of a race programme cobbled together and he can salvage something after the shit in the Vuelta. We’ll definitely have the strongest Irish team for a while."
"With Philip Deignan getting his contract with Team Sky; he’ll be motivated. Nico is going to be motivated. Dan is motivated. So not only will we have a strong team but a motivated one too. We’re not just going to take part, we’re going to do a job and we’ll prepare for it with a realistic goal of winning. That hasn’t really happened for a while so it’s exciting.”
As regards where he will be next year, Brammeier wasn’t offering much, only saying that he’d know in the next couple of weeks.
“Nothing is confirmed yet but I should be sorted in the next week or so… I think I should be able to say what’s going on and where I’ll be. I’m still undecided myself but there are some options there and I’ll be happy whichever option turns out.”
