Event News – Brammeier to ride Sun Tour

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Liverpool’s Matt Brammeier to ride a monument in Australian cycling history, the Herald Sun Tour for MTN-Qhubeka

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Event News – Brammeier to ride Sun Tour

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Fast men Goss and Farrar look for speedy start to 2015 for MTN-Qhubeka

Buoyed by the news the African team has received a wildcard into the 2015 Tour de France, MTN-Qhubeka, with Liverpool’s Matt Brammeier, will line up for the Australian classic race, the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, with an attacking squad built around grand tour stage winners Matt Goss and Tyler Farrar.

The 2015 event will be staged from Wednesday 4th to Sunday 8th February, as the climax to an exciting summer of cycling and marks the 62nd edition of the race. For Australian Goss, it will be a chance to improve on his runner-up finish on the Sun Tour’s first stage in 2014 into Ballarat where he was narrowly beaten by Garmin-Sharp’s Nathan Haas.

His debut at the race came back in 2005 representing the Australian national team, when at just 18 he was the youngest rider in the race. Three years later he won his first two stages, the preface and stage one of the 2008 edition when riding for CSC-Saxobank.

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Matt Brammeier

“The Herald Sun Tour is a tried and tested race, always a nice race no matter which end of the year it is held,” Goss said. A two-time stage winner at the Giro d’Italia and world championships silver medallist, Goss joins MTN-Qhubeka eager for a fresh start off the back of an often frustrating three seasons with Australian outfit, ORICA-GreenEDGE. A start at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour is key to Goss’ tilt at the spring Classics in Europe throughout April which can provide a launch pad to a Tour de France return.

“It will be nice to have it under the belt before we head back to Europe. This one will be my first race since last September [other than the Cadel Evans race] so I’m coming off a big break,” he explained. “[I’m] Definitely aiming to be right up at the pointy end. It’s a good opportunity to show people I’m not gone yet.”

“There’s no better platform to do that than here in Australia.”

Like Goss, Farrar who hails from the US, is in his first season with South African-registered MTN-Qhubeka. The 30-year-old ended 2014 with a flurry of results, including the stage win at the Tour of Beijing en route to victory in the points classification, along with a host of top 10s – all signs that Farrar is ready to return to his best. 2015 marks his debut appearance at the iconic Australian stage race.

Joining Goss and Farrar will be impressive domestiques Serge Pauwels, Songezo Jim, and newly-announced signing, three-time Irish Champion, Matt Brammeier. Meantime, making a return to Australia will be young-gun Nicolas Dougall, who spent his formative years growing up in Brisbane and even racing for several seasons in Australia’s National Road Series.

The 2015 Jayco Herald Sun Tour will be presented by Jayco and the Herald Sun, along with the continued support from the Victorian State Government.

MTN-Qhubeka – 2015 Jayco Herald Sun Tour

Course:
Prologue – Wednesday 4th February – Melbourne Southbank – 2.1km
Stage 1 – Thursday 5th February – Mt Macedon to Bendigo – 150km
Stage 2 – Friday 6th February – Bendigo to Nagambie – 118km
Stage 3 – Saturday 7th February – Mitchelton Winery to Nagambie – 146km
Stage 4 – Sunday 8th February – Arthurs Seat Finale – 124km

www.heraldsuntour.com.au 
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