Irishman speaks about accident that delayed his professional career
Matt Brammeier is currently in his debut year as a professional on the HTC-HighRoad squad. The Irishman turned professional at 26 years old, which is very late compared to most debutants these days, but has adapted well in the jump to the top level of the sport.
“I was delayed a couple of years turning pro after I was hit by a truck in 2007,” he told VeloNation.
“I was pretty close to turning pro back then but things ground to a halt pretty quickly. I had 2 broken legs and a few other injuries so it took me a while to come back and feel strong again.”
Asked if making his debut in the professional ranks later was an advantage as he was more matured, he said, “I think the mental side of cycling comes down a lot to how much you want it. After such a set back and the thought of never being able to ride my bike again, it made me even more determined to succeed.”
He started his year off impressing his new managers from the gun, when he finished tenth in the opening prologue of the Tour of Qatar. He’s continued making steady progress with some good results, most recently on the stage six of the Tour of Austria where he finished second.
HTC-Highroad is the world’s most successful cycling team in terms of race wins and is well known for its success in developing new riders.
“Its been everything I expected and more,” said Brammeier. “Yeah its been professional, the racing has been better, my training has gone up a level and general advice has been way above what I have ever seen before but above all I’ve enjoyed myself so much more this year. I can’t put my finger on why, everybody involved just seems to smile a lot more which makes things a whole lot easier and less stressful! Maybe this is why we are such a successful team.”
Brammeier has showed a willingness to continue that success when he successfully defended his Irish National Championship jersey, beating Dan Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) in the sprint to the line. He also added the individual time trial win to his career results.
“I proved to myself and everybody else that last year wasn’t a fluke and that I have made a huge step up in the past twelve months. I used my head to win the road race and my legs to win the time trial…two things that are pretty important in bike racing.”
HTC-Highroad’s future:
Despite being so successful in previous seasons and carrying that success to this season showcased by recently winning six stages and the green points jersey in the Tour de France, there is a possibility that the team could end due to lack of sponsorship. Team owner Bob Stapleton is said to be in talks with mobile phone giant HTC about renewing its sponsorship while rumours are still flying around about a new sponsor with a bigger budget for next year.
“It would be easy to say that it’s all under control and I’m not too worried, but that would be a lie,” said Brammeier, whose contract is until the end of this year. “It’s getting pretty late in the season now and time is starting to run out. For sure we’re all starting to get nervous and worry about our futures, but at the moment it’s all out of our control. So we just have too keep doing our jobs until a decision is made.
“I have a lot of faith in the guys behind the scenes who have been working hard on this for a long time now, and I’m pretty confident that we will continue to be a major player in the world of cycling in 2012 and beyond.”
The way forward:
For now, the Irishman is focused on gaining more results towards the end of the season. His next race is in Saturday’s San Sebastian Classic. He also has the Eneco Tour and the Tour of Britain on his race schedule.
“I want to pick out a couple of stages in Eneco and Britain with a goal of winning something there. Also for sure I want to hit the world championships time trial full gas and see what I can do there.
“I’m not putting and pressure on myself for a result, I just want to have the experience of preparing for a major event, doing everything right and completely emptying the tank.”