Matt Teggart has excelled over the cobbles and on the climbs of the U23 Tour of Flanders. He took his best ever result on an Ireland jersey in Belgium today.
Matt Teggart shows his worth at Tour of Flanders
Having enjoyed a breakthrough season last year with An Post-Chainreaction, Matt Teggart has now taken his best result in an Irish jersey.
Riding for Team Wiggins this season, Teggart was on international duty today at the U23 Tour of Flanders in Belgium.
He put in a fantastic shift, placing 11th on the day in a race that contained most of the best U23 riders in the world.
James Whelan from Australia took a solo win after over four hours in the saddle. He was just six seconds clear of a 27-rider group.
And Ireland's Teggart was in that chasing pack; taking 10th in the sprint for the runner-up spot. The race was won last year by Irish rider Eddie Dunbar.
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Now competing with Aqua Blue Sport on the pro scene, Dunbar was not riding the race today.
Teggart was the only Irishman in the group that was sprinting for 2nd place. Other nations that also had just one man there included Denmark, the United States, France, Sweden, Slovenia and Kazakhstan.
The Belgians were best-represented up front, with four riders in the group. However, its riders did not enjoy a strong finale. Despite their numbers their best finisher was Cedric Beullens in 12th.
Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Norway each had three riders in the group. And with two men there were Poland and Italy.
It meant Teggart faced a sprint in which most of those he was riding against had team mates present.
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The 22-year-old rode his first season at Continental level last year with An Post-Chainreaction; winning a Rás stage and holding the yellow jersey.
And while that was a breakthrough ride for him, today's result was achieved in an international field packed with the best of his peers.
Daire Feeley and Conn McDunphy were among the 82 finishers from a 158-rider start list. They were in a 30-strong group just over six minutes down.
Irish riders Dermot Trulock, Jake Gray and Darragh O'Mahony were non finishers on the day; though they played their part earlier.
The race was 166km, starting and finishing in Oudenaarde. It took the riders up some of the most famous climbs in cycling including the Muur van Geraardsbergen, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg.
O’Mahony was in the early escape and fellow Irish rider Trulock also got clear with 11 others in the opening third of the race.
However, the gaps were closed up the Paterberg and the escapees recaptured. And as the race moved into the final 20km eventual winner Whelan made his move and survived for a huge win.
Whelan rides for the Continental-level Drapac EF Cycling team. Second-placed Max Kanter plies his trade with Team Sunweb’s development team.
Another Australian, Robert Stannard, who has signed a two-year deal with the WorldTour Mitchelton-Scott outfit, rounded out the podium.
More to follow.
Sat, April 7: U23 Tour of Flanders
UCI Nations Cup, Belgium
1 Whelan James Australia 04:07:57
2 Kanter Max Germany 00:00:06
3 Stannard Robert Australia 00:00:06
4 Malecki Kamil Poland 00:00:06
5 Nielsen Andreas Denmark 00:00:06
6 Hirschi Marc Switzerland 00:00:06
7 Bennett Sean United States 00:00:06
8 Touze Damien France 00:00:06
9 Rocchetti Filippo Italy 00:00:06
10 Monk Cyrus Australia 00:00:06
11 Teggart Matthew Ireland 00:00:06
12 Beullens Cedric Belgium 00:00:06
13 Eriksson Lucas Sweden 00:00:06
14 Tiller Rasmus Fossum Norway 00:00:06
15 Pogačar Tadej Slovenia 00:00:06
61 Feeley Daire Ireland 00:06:13
68 McDunphy Conn Ireland 00:06:13
DNF Trulock Dermot Ireland
DNF Gray Jake Ireland
DNF O'Mahony Daragh Ireland
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