By Louise Hickey
“I’ve hit the ground running this year,” Matthew Teggart told stickybottle after yesterday's win at the Des Hanlon Memorial in Carlow. The 26-year-old took the victory in some style, after riding the final 25km on his own, saying “it’s nice to win and it’s even nicer to win solo”.
There were times in the race when he felt panicked, as a breakaway formed and gained an advantage of a minute by the second lap. However, Teggart persisted with his effort saying he knew that if he “went hard there was a chance of getting away”.
He attacked on the second lap and got clear in a four-man group - with Leo Doyle (TWC Tempo Veldhoven), Conor Murnane (UCD Cycling Club) and Dean Harvey (Spellman Dublin Port). They quickly bridged across to the breakaway.
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Later he got clear of the breakaway; again in a four-man group and this time featuring Mark Dowling (All human-VeloRevolution), Gareth O'Neill (Caldwell Cycles) and Harvey. Teggart then attacked them with about 25km to go and time trialed into the finish to win.
After securing wins in the Shay Elliot and John Beggs races last year, the Des Hanlon was on Teggart's hit list and his victory yesterday adds another prestigious event to his CV.
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Just two weeks ago he finished 5th in a stage of the Tour of Antalya in Turkey, saying that "on paper" that was “probably my best result ever".
His main goal for the year is to achieve a medal in the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland and the date of the road race at those Games - August 7th in Glasgow - is clearly firmly fixed in his mind.
Yesterday Teggart - who has raced in Europe for most of his career - got a chance to perform very well on home roads; something he clearly savoured.
“I don’t often get the chance to race at home, so it was nice that this occasion fell on a day that suited and I was really able to make the most of it,” he said.
Looking ahead, Teggart will be racing in Europe and the UK with his British Continental team WiV SunGod team. The Rutland Melton Classic in England next month and Ronde van Limburg in Belgium in early June are both big races he has his eye on.
“In terms of goals I’ve got the experience and I’ve been in the game a while, so I just want to push and win as much as possible this year,” said Teggart, who has represented Ireland at elite level on the road and is a former Rás Tailteann stage winner and former yellow jersey on that race.
