Brammeier signs a one-year deal with top ProTour team

CYCLING: IRELAND'S NUMBER of ProTour riders has unexpectedly jumped by one, following the announcement that the HTC Columbia team has given a pro contract to national champion Matt Brammeier.

IRELAND’S NUMBER of ProTour riders has unexpectedly jumped by one, following the announcement that the HTC Columbia team has given a pro contract to national champion Matt Brammeier.

The team, which has the highest number of victories in the pro peloton this year and which is home to cycling’s fastest sprinter, Mark Cavendish, has offered the 25-year-old a one-year deal.

The signing of the Liverpool-born rider is a massive boost to Brammeier’s career, and will see him move from the An Post Grant Thornton M Donnelly Seán Kelly team at the end of the season.

Brammeier highlighted his ability when he beat defending champion Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale), Roche’s fellow ProTour rider Daniel Martin (Garmin-Transitions) and others in June’s national road race championships in Sligo. More recently, he was awarded the most-aggressive-rider prize on the final stage of the Tour of Britain, then was the first to attack in Sunday’s elite road race at the world championships in Geelong, Australia. He was clear in a breakaway group for 200 kilometres.

Philip Deignan is tipped to sign with a ProTour team following news his current squad, the Cervélo Test Team, will stop at the end of the season. If so, that means Irish cycling will have four ProTour riders in the peloton, the highest number since that top division was introduced in 2005.

Brammeier is delighted to step up to the ProTour. “I am thrilled to be joining HTC Columbia in 2011,” he stated. “It’s the best team in the world and it’s a huge honor that they have put their faith in my abilities as a rider. I like to work hard and ride hard and I’m excited that I will be able to improve and learn from the very best.

“It’s been a long and tough road back from the injuries that almost ended my career two years ago. It’s a dream come true to be given such a fabulous opportunity.”