Chat: Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis)

MadisonTeamBanner

Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis) who was part of the break in RideLondon is looking for more of the same in the Tour of Britain

RST Cycle Clothing & Trigon Bikes

Chat: Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis)

Matt Holmes is only 22 but seems to have been around for ages and this year has shown that when the big guns come from Europe, he can ride with them and hold his own. Winner of the Totnes Two Day early in the year, Matt has spent the time since the last prem racing in Europe and is now resting up for the last big goal of the year.

Matt HolmesW

He finished 19th on GC in the Tour de Yorkshire (above) which was one hilly son of a bitch race which tested riders to the max with the weather adding to the challenge. Matt was equal to the challenge and then in RideLondon, won three of the KoM sprints but still missed out on the overall in that competition as he explains below.

Despite not getting on the podium, he says of his ride that day, “It was a good day out. I decided the day before I was going to try and get in the break and so I set off and rode it like a crit, committing to the first hour and going all out to get in the break. I must have attacked 15 times!”

“After we got away, it was pretty straight forward doing through and off as far as we could get”. With riders from World Tour and Pro Conti teams getting more racing at pro level than he, Matt knew he had to be careful to not do too much.

“I was constantly having to hold back in the break because I do have a tendency to kill myself too soon and I was getting cramp for a good while in the middle of the race. So I just wanted to make sure I got over Box Hill as I knew there were no more big climbs before the finish.”

Matt then explained how he was disappointed not to get a spot on the podium for his KoM efforts. “I should have won the King of the Mountains but the day before they changed the rules. In the manual, they said it was on places and I won three and the other rider won none but in the race meeting (pre race) they said it was on finishing position which I didn’t know and he was just ahead of me. I didn’t know that either as my radio had stopped working”.

Matt HolmesRidelondon

Matt second wheel in the break in the Prudential RideLondon Classic

As he admits though, such performances as that and the ones in Yorkshire have shown he is well capable of riding at pro level. “This year has given me a lot of confidence I can actually do it at this level. I just need some luck and better results”.

His next goal is the Tour of Britain. Asked about it, Matt explained “we did a training camp in the Pyrenees and Erik and Tom will be team leaders and will try and go for the GC so we’ll be getting behind them but a major goal is still to get in the breaks and I think that will be my goal and who knows, if I can do that, go for the KoM again”.

Matt, from the North West, has also done a little recce of the Cumbrian stage. “I have ridden the stage in the rain on my own with mum and dad in the car behind me and I rode up the main KoM and got the Strava (some one has taken that it off him since).” That experience he says may or may not be useful as he knows he can’t be over confident knowing the climb but Yorkshire showed he has the legs to do some damage and it will be interesting to see how he and the other riders in the team go in their GC challenge.

Good luck to Matt Holmes and the team in the Tour. More from them at the race.

2016_ShuttVeloRapideAdvert

AlpsCyclesMidstory

 

Send your results as well as club, team & event news here

Cero

Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)

Other News on VeloUK

Tags: