One of the best riders in the country, and a man who has represented Ireland on the road at the World Championships and Europeans, Matt Teggart has taken a very strong win in France.
The Irishman, originally out of the Banbridge CC stable
at home, got into the breakaway today at Grand Prix des
Industries de Belley before attacking the 15-rider group.
He was joined by two others and though
they worked together for a period, Teggart decided to attack them. The Irishman
had too much for his rivals, who were unable to follow him, with Teggart
powering clear for a solo victory.
Teggart and his VC Villefranche
Beaujolais team mates were aggressive throughout the 120km race in the
Ain department in eastern France today and when the 15-man breakaway went clear
they had three men in the move.
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With about 40km to go Teggart told his team mates he
planned to attack and then moved clear with a strong move. He was joined by
French rider Tristan Delacroix (Sprinter Nice Métropole) and
Estonian Siim Kiskonen (EC Saint-Etienne Loire).
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However, with 18 laps of the circuit raced, and two
remaining, Teggart attacked again up front and this time his two breakaway
companions were unable to respond.
From that point the 25-year-old Irishman put his head down and powered his way to the finish to take what was his first ever solo victory and his first win of 2021. Behind him, Delacroix and Kiskonen hung on for 2nd and 3rd.
Teggart, who has ridden for Team Wiggins and EvoPro
Racing at Continental level in the past, is based in France this year and is
hopeful of picking up a pro contract for next year.
He will next turn his attention to Tour
du Loiret, a national elite stage race, and the UCI 2.2 ranked Alpes Isère Tour;
the same classification as Rás Tailteann when Teggart won a stage in that race
and held the yellow jersey in 2017.
Teggart’s season last year was almost
completely wiped out by Covid-19 and though he was selected for the elite Irish
men’s team for the Worlds in Imola he was unable to travel because of
pandemic-related rules. However, he made the most of the racing he got and took
a strong win in Tour du Jura in Switzerland.
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