Matt Brammeier to settle future soon

Former Irish road race champion Matt Brammeier is getting closer to finalising his team situation for next season, with an announcement of where he will be racing thought likely to come in the next few days.

The 29-year-old highlighted his class in the past when he clocked up a record four consecutive road race titles plus one time trial gold medal.

Biggest teams

He has competed with some of the biggest teams in the sport, namely HTC Highroad and Omega Pharma-Quick Step, but more recently raced with smaller outfits.

He was part of the Champion System squad in 2013 and this year raced with the Azerbaijan-funded Synergy Baku project.

He spent several months affected by illness, then traced the problem to an abscess in a tooth.

Once that was sorted he was able to turn things around, taking eighth on a stage and sixth overall in the Tour of China I in September.

He was also a solid 16th in the Tour of China II and 27th in the 1.1-ranked Tour of Almaty.

Brammeier told The Irish Times yesterday that he was unable to go into detail about the team plans for 2015, but hoped to be able to do so soon.

Finalised

“I think everything should be finalised in the next few days and then I’ll be able to speak about it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting things sorted out.”

Brammeier has been based in Belgium for several years but more recently has spent time in Girona, Spain, making use of the better weather and more varied terrain there.

He confirmed that he will once again clock up pre-season kilometres there, and will also spend time in Belgium and Britain.