One of the top Irish favourites for this year’s Rás Tailteann is Matthew Teggart. Five years after taking a stage and wearing the yellow jersey, he is setting his sights higher this time around.
By Shane Stokes
Heading into the Rás Tailteann on a motivational high, Matthew Teggart has said he has big ambitions in this year’s event.
The 26-year-old Wiv SunGod rider has had a strong season at home and abroad and took an emotional win on Sunday when he took the race won in memory of his grandfather, the Noel Teggart Memorial.
He will be competing in the Rás Tailteann with a strong Cycling Ulster team and said on Tuesday that he is in a good place mentally and physically.
“I feel good, obviously. I think on paper anyway we have arguably one of the strongest teams in the whole race,” he told stickybottle on Tuesday, one day before the race start. “I definitely think we’ve got the manpower and the firepower there to win the Rás with any one of us. So we definitely have options, which helps.”
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Teggart will be joined in what is a powerful lineup by Linsday Watson, Conor Halvey, Gareth O’Neil and Darnell Moore, and speaks highly of those teammates.
“I think that every stage is winnable for any one of us,” he said. “The Rás route doesn’t seem to be too complicated or too hard… There’s no really hilly or mountainous days. Nothing you’d say, ‘that there is definitely going to be a climber’s day.’ So, I think the race is very open, which should suit us and should suit me as well, personally.
“I think the more open and aggressive and the harder the race, the better for me. I’m looking forward to it. I would like to come out of it with at least another stage win or two. And then hopefully… It is so unpredictable that I couldn’t say that I’m directly targeting the overall, but obviously there will always be a bit of a target there.”
Teggart has ridden the Rás twice in the past, in 2016 and 2017. He had a strong performance both times, but particularly in the latter edition. He won stage three to Bundoran, proving fastest out of a 12-man breakaway group, and then took over the race lead the following day when he was fourth in to Buncrana.
He eventually finished ninth overall but is now a little older, has more experience and has had the kind of results to suggest he could be a lot closer to the final yellow jersey. Does he feel intimidated by the pressure of being one of the key Irish favourites?
“No, I generally welcome pressure, to be honest,” he answered. “It used to get the better of me a couple of years ago, I must admit. But I’ve come to actually like pressure.
“To me, if there’s pressure on you and a lot of people expect you to win, well then you obviously have a very good chance of winning. So you should take confidence from that, if you know what I mean.
“If there no pressure on you and no one expects you to win, it’s likely you are not going to win or going to be capable of winning. So that’s the way I would look at it now.”
The approach is an interesting one, acknowledging that he is tipped as one to watch because of his strength and embracing that rather than feeling intimidated by that. He doesn’t come across as immodest, but rather simply accepting where he is in terms of form and self-belief.
“I’m fully confident that I’m capable of winning the race overall,” he says. “I just take confidence from that pressure. I know that I’m capable of winning this race, so why can’t I, as such?”
Happy head, happy legs
Competing with An Post Chainreaction in 2017, Team Wiggins in 2018 and EvoPro in 2019, Teggart has made continuous progress. He moved to the British Continental team WiV SunGod this season, partly on the recommendation of Rory Townsend, and has flourished there in taking a number of good results.
His international programme got underway in the 1.2 Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969/Gran Premi València in January, where he placed 18th. He finished fifth on stage two and eighth in the mountains classification in the 2.1-ranked Tour of Antalya in Turkey in February, and then last month he was sixth on a stage and third overall in the mountains classification in the Tour de la Mirabelle in France.
He performed well again in France earlier this month when he was fourth in the 1.2-ranked Paris-Troyes.
“I’m actually really pleased,” he said. “I think this is probably the best start to the season I have ever had, results-wise anyway. I think the team has brought a lot of that out of me.
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“It’s a really good setup this year. Great bikes, great equipment, a very professional, well-organized team. And just a great bunch of lads too. We are all mates. It makes racing very enjoyable, and obviously the level in the team is so high that it brings you on too. So you have to step up to even get a spot in the team.
“The calendar has suited me as well. They are putting me in races which suit me, and not just racing me week-in, week-out every week and burning me out, as such. So it’s a mixture of good team, good setup, good training, obviously, and following a good, steady specific training plan.”
He puts it down to another factor too, one he terms ‘happy head, happy legs.’ It’s all about keeping things in perspective rather than getting too fixated.
“It’s the home comforts as well. This is the first year in, like, eight years I have been based at home in Ireland. I think that’s been a help too. I’m at that age now where it is nice to be around my friends and family and I can switch off. It is not just bike, bike, bike day in and day out, day and night. That’s been nice too. I think being happy has played a big part.”
That blend of racing abroad and at home has worked out very strongly for him. He won the first three rounds of Cycling Ireland’s National Road Series, opening a commanding lead in the five-race competition, and also won last weekend’s Noel Teggart Memorial.
It’s a race he said means a huge amount to him, describing it as a huge highlight.
“I was delighted. I think if I could only win one race in my whole career, it would have been that one,” he said. “Just for my family and stuff and for how much it means to all them. And having everyone there…Banbridge is my home town.
“It meant a lot. I felt a bit nervous that morning obviously, a lot of pressure. That was the first time I’ve ever rode the race. Because of my schedule abroad and being on the continent, I knew I wouldn’t get many shots at it, just because of how it falls with my schedule.
“So I felt this might be my only chance. I know I am going quite well, so I made sure to make the most of it and just try to race smart. Thankfully it paid off.”
That race aside, what else have been highlights from the season?
“Last weekend in France, in that Paris – Troyes Classic,” he answered. “That’s a big race that I’ve done a couple of times before. Fourth in that with the team winning was a huge success. It was brilliant the way we rode as a team all day, and how we executed it. That has definitely been a big highlight too.
“And then I suppose Turkey, early on the year. I had a good result there, fifth in a .1. Again, I was really pleased with that in such a big race. And the race had nice weather, it was a new country for me. That was a nice experience.
“I have had quite a few good memories this year so far, so hopefully I can keep the ball rolling."
"I'm just enjoying my racing"
If all goes to plan, Teggart will further add to his strong 2022 results in the Rás Tailteann. He’d love to win it overall, becoming the first Irishman to do so since Stephen Gallagher in 2008. A stage win or two would equally be a success and add to the momentum he is clearly building.
He’s 26 now and appears to be on the cusp of a career breakthrough. What is his longer-term goal in cycling?
“I’m not sure, to be honest,” he admitted. “The sport is so unpredictable. Every year you come to August, September, and you’re like, ‘oh, what are the options for next year?’ So, come that time of year, I think we’ll just have to sit down again, assess the options, assess the results I have and any offers that I have in front of me, and go from there.
“I can say I’m very keen to stay with SunGod, my current team. It’s a great setup and it looks like they’re going to step up actually within the next two years. So that’s definitely a good option there. It’s a really well-run team, we have a good budget there and good equipment and a great programme and stuff. So far, so good.”
He’s deliberately not fixating on what the future holds. A lot of riders get hung up on how far they can go in the sport and how things will work out. Teggart seems to be approaching things in a different way, focussing on the short term targets and trusting that things will work out in the right way longer-term.
“At the moment, I’m just enjoying my racing. Taking it day by day, and trying not to think too long-term and get caught up in that. So we’ll see how all that goes.
“But obviously I’ll hope for a good week this week. We will see and reassess things then.”
