Irishman to target early Classics season with new team
As announced on Monday, Matt Brammeier has secured a WorldTour contract with Omega Pharma–Quick Step for next season after one year on the HTC-Highroad team.
The Irishman spoke to VeloNation about next year’s prospects ahead of lining up for the individual time trial in the world championships in Copenhagen today. He’ll compete there along with compatriot David McCann, who he beat to win the national title in June.
“For sure I’m looking forward to meeting up with the new guys and getting my 2012 season underway,” said Brammeier. “I’m sure there will be a lot of changes which always motivates me and excites me.”
“Quick Step is one of the most recognizable and prestigious teams in the peloton. My good friend and director Brian Holm was involved from the start and there are five other HTC riders signing with the team. The experience the team has is invaluable…all of these points made my decision easy.”
The Irish national road and time trial champion will join current HTC-Highroad teammates Peter and Martin Velits, Tony Martin, Bert Grabsch and František Rabon with directeur sportif Holm moving to the management team.
Brammeier will likely form part of the team’s early Classics season ambitions and ride in support of Tom Boonen as the Belgian looks to regain his prowess on the cobbled roads.
“For sure I would like to be a part of the bigger Classics but let’s be honest, I’m not going to win one,” Brammeier told VeloNation. “I want to be in full form for one of the smaller earlier Classics like Waregem, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne or possibly Gent-Wevelgem to try and get a result and then head into the next few races playing a strong supporting role for the team.”
After this week’s activity at the world championships, Brammeier will round out his time at HTC-Highroad by racing Paris-Bourges and Paris-Tours. He’ll then head into the off season already thinking about next year. He’ll hope to start his time with Omega Pharma Quick Step as strongly as this year, when he finished tenth in the Tour of Qatar prologue.