Brammeier holds off Roche to claim title

CYCLING NEWS:MATT BRAMMEIER took a superb win for the An Post Grant Thornton M Donnelly Sean Kelly team yesterday when he raced to victory in the National Road Race Championships in Sligo.

The 25-year-old was the first rider to attack during the 150km event and remained aggressive throughout, being part of the day’s successful 14-man breakaway and then surging clear alone just before the start of the final lap.

Defending champion Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) bridged across but was unable to drop Brammeier the final time up the steep Tully Hill.

They raced towards the finish together, and there Brammeier pulled off a big upset when he clipped away on the final corner and held off all efforts by Roche to get back on terms.

“This is by far my biggest victory,” the delighted rider said. “I didn’t expect this at all. I was quietly confident that one of us from the team would win, but thought it would be David (O’Loughlin). He was super-strong today.”

Brammeier is from Liverpool but declared for Ireland last year to have better opportunities. His grandparents are Irish, and he has been competing for the Irish national team and also the Irish-backed An Post squad.

The win is huge news for the team, which won two stages in this year’s FBD Rás and will now be able to boast a national champion in its ranks.

Roche, who will start his second Tour de France next Saturday, was hoping to once again wear the distinctive white and green Irish jersey in the peloton. However, it was not to be, and he was clearly disappointed.

“The race didn’t go well enough for me,” he said. “Matt was strong . . . I tried to attack him a few times coming to the finish but couldn’t get away from him. He jumped early and I couldn’t get back to him.”

Roche’s first cousin and fellow pro Dan Martin (Garmin Transitions) was also in the move and outsprinted David McCann (Giant Asia) 16 seconds later, netting bronze.

Brammeier’s team-mate O’Loughlin came in alone for fifth, while promising second-year senior Sam Bennett (VC La Pomme) took eighth and with it, the Under-23 national title. Eurocycles Eurobaby were the best team.

Three other championship races were held over the weekend. US-based Olivia Dillon completed a rare double on Saturday when she followed up her win in Thursday’s time-trial championship with victory in the road race. She got clear with four-time champion Siobhán Horgan (ESGL 93) close to the end of the event and beat her in the sprint.

Fiona Meade (St Finbarr’s) took third.

Later that afternoon, David Peelo (Kilcullen CC) outsprinted his friend and training partner Greg Swinand (Usher IRC) to win the veteran’s event. Peelo’s team-mate Colm Bracken got bronze.

The final race took place yesterday and saw Jack Wilson (Audi East Antrim) outsprint Adam Rayner (Orchard CC), Ewen McDonald (Epic) and several others to become junior champion.