Brammeier: "The novelty will never wear off"

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Brammeier: "The novelty will never wear off"

Matt Brammeier reflected on his spring campaign with HTC-Highroad, which saw him ride Paris-Roubaix, Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Brammeier declared that "even in ten years time the novelty of all these races won't wear off, I'll still be excited. It's been bigger than everything."

"Roubaix was awesome, something I dreamed of doing," he said. "Even the first few years of riding, it was the race I looked forward to watching, seeing heroes like Sean Kelly and Museeuw win it. I was pretty nervous before it. The race itself had its ups and downs; I was well placed coming into Arenberg but someone came off in front of me and that ruined my race."

Nevertheless, he forged on determinedly to the finish, running out of adrenaline in the final fifty kilometres. "I was knackered, but I wanted to do it for the experience. It's a race I'll probably focus the rest on my career around, that one day."

On reflection, Brammeier reckons the Hell of the North finished him off for Amstel Gold and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. "Liege went really badly, I suffered so much. I just had no energy at all," he said.

Fast forward a fortnight and, after a ten-day break at home which included a ride with his old club Liverpool Mercury, Brammeier feels "refreshed and ready to go" for a mid-season schedule that includes the Berlin Cyclothon and Philadelphia championships.

Motorpoints Jonny McEvoy says his team have identified the riders to mark in Sunday's Lincoln GP - but is hopeful that they'll be the ones to watch on the Michaelgate.

McEvoy finished ninth in last year's race, and used last weekend's Tour of Ulster to prepare for the second round of the Premier Calendar.

Team-mate Pete Williams took the overall win in Ireland and McEvoy - who won the race's hill climb - said the race sets Motorpoint up for a strong showing.

"Everyone in the team has good form and we're feeling good ahead of the race," McEvoy told Cycling Weekly.

"We know the strong teams and riders, so we know who to look out for. If we can watch the moves and get into good positions at the bottom of the climb, we'll have a good chance of doing something."

He admitted that with Ian Bibby - fifth last year - and Marcin Bialoblocki (seventh a year ago), Motorpoint's team leader will be decided as the race unfolded.

Better known for his prowess on knobby tyres as Scottish junior MTB champion, the 17 year old is currently sat thirteenth overall, eighteen seconds behind leader Matej Mahoric after making Thursday's split.

Home teams have been announced for this year's Tour Series, which begins at the end of the month.

Last year's winners Motorpoint will be the home team in Stoke-On-Trent, while Rapha-Condor-Sharp will look to win their home race in London's Canary Wharf for the second year running.

Cycling Weekly

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