Matt Brammeier, above, and Philip Lavery spent most of today's elite & U23 men's title race in Carlingford up the road. Brammeier said he feared Lavery most but was determined to stick to his plan (Photo: Toby Watson)
“I knew it would be hard, but not that hard,” said Matt Brammeier minutes after he had successfully defended his national road race title for the third year in a row, making him the first rider to win four consecutive Irish road titles.
Brammeier’s victory in Carlingford, where he out-sprinted fellow escapees Philip Lavery (AC Bisontine) and Damien Shaw of domestic club Aquablue, came in pretty much the same style as his previous three - the Champion System pro getting himself up the road as early as possible and staying there for the rest of the race.
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Having gone clear with Shaw, Lavery and Unitedhealthcare’s Philip Deignan after just two of the 13 laps, Brammeier found himself out front with just Lavery a lap later.
Deignan lost his place at the head of affairs when he crashed on a corner in Carlingford village and Shaw already opted for the shelter of the peloton on a blustery day in the picturesque Louth village.
“It looked like it was a bit of a suicide move at first but I kind of had to do it,” said record breaker Brammeier afterwards.
“If I missed something, everyone was going to look for me to chase, so I knew I couldn’t let myself get into that position where I had to chase. If I’m on the front I can decide if I go through, if I want to sit on or take it easier but if I’m behind, I have no option but to go full gas.”
Despite numerous groups merging and fracturing at the front later in the race, Brammeier held his place in the lead group alongside a tenacious Lavery.
“It’s always worrying when you’ve been up front in a little group and a bigger group comes back and there’s fresher guys there but after 100km I realised that everyone was fucked. It was such an aggressive and hard race that nobody was fresh at that point.”
“When the group caught us I kind of had to reset and start again. The attacks just started instantly because the group was so big and some guys didn’t want to ride. It split again and the next group was gone. It was just a case of trying to save as much energy as possible for the last few laps.”
While bronze medalist Shaw later admitted he was happy just to be there and focused on staying clear of the chasers, Brammeier was worried about Lavery on the final lap.
The Dubliner has been in flying form of late and was making the defending champion hurt on the drags around the back of the course.
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“Philip was going really strong and I was worried about him. I knew I had to make it over the last climb and stick with my plan for the sprint. Tactics don’t really come into play at the end of such a hard race though. It’s who’s got the most left in the tank. The strongest man wins.”
“I knew that whoever kicked and hit out first would win and I made sure it was me. I didn’t even look behind me. I just went for the line. My legs were like jelly but I’m sure the other guys were as well.”
Brammeier’s fourth title victory kick starts the second half of his first season with Asian-registered Pro Continental team Champion System . He heads to the Tour of Qhingai Lake in China next, where he is hoping his recent stint in California will pay off on the climbs.
“After the classics I went out to California. It was a really big focus for me, not only results wise. Last year I was hurting on the climbs and it was something I really wanted to focus on, to lose a bit of weight and improve my threshold.”
“I went out there pretty early and trained really hard for a few weeks and was really happy with how I was feeling and was climbing with the front groups most days in the Tour of California. After that I had a bit of a break because I’d had such a hard training block and the race was pretty tough.”
“I needed some down time and the team were really good with giving me flexibility to stay home and train for this race. I’m really happy with them. They’re looking after me well. The race program I’ve had this year has been great.”
“In teams before, I’ve had to do the races the teams wanted me to do, but this year I’ve kind of chosen the program. We did some big races; started with Qatar and Oman, and some of the smaller classics but they’re still big for me and big for the team.”
“From now on, it’s going to be busy with a lot of racing and traveling, but that break away from racing after California means I feel fresh now and ready to go.”
Brammeier’s victory in Carlingford means he will continue to wear the shamrock jersey of Irish champion for the rest of the season but he is also hoping to wear the green jersey of Ireland before the end of the year at the World Road Race Championships in Italy.
“I think Dan (Martin) is in with a really good chance of a podium this year and I want to be there,” he says of this year’s course in Florence.
“I want to be on top form there and ready to help him out. My goals have been trying to climb a little bit better and that’ll be a focus for me to try and go as deep into the race as I can and try and do a good job for Dan.”
