"Teams want to see more than one big performance": Surprise Australian champion generates interest among big teams

Patrick Eddy's stint at WorldTour level ended last winter after two seasons with Picnic PostNL, however little did anyone know the best was yet to come for the Australian. Eddy had hardly any valuable results of his own during the time with the Dutch team, making his elite National title all the more shocking. For his Team Brennan (has nothing in common with Matthew Brennan!), a newcomer at continental level, this is by far the biggest success in its history.

It goes without saying that Eddy would be selected by the Australian national team to represent the country at Tour Down Under with a lineup that mixes experience (Chris Harper, Damien Howson) and young talent (Oliver Bleddyn, Matthew Greenwood, or Lucas Stevenson). Eddy is far from a greenhorn, but at the age of 23 still stands somewhere inbetween the two groups.

It's a third time at Australia's only WorldTour stage race for Eddy, but this time is quite special: "It's obviously been a bit more busy than years prior," Eddy told Cyclingnews of the experience of lining up straight after winning the title.

"A few more media duties, and a lot more people stopped me to say congratulations, and wanting to have a chat, but even as I've been trying to soak it up and enjoy it as much as possible I've also just being trying to stay focused at the same time."

The result in Perth didn't come of its own accord. After two years at top-level during which Eddy failed to catch the attention of big teams, he was extremely motivated to prove his own worth in a team where he could ask for the appropriate role.

"I put in a lot of work over the off season. And yeah, I obviously wanted to prove a point and get things started off with Team Brennan [his new Australian-based Continental squad] in a good way and you can't really beat winning a national title on day two of the season."

"I clearly have some good form, so I would like to really have a crack at my own result," said Eddy of his hopes at Tour Down Under and later the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. "Maybe on stage three or stage five, they probably are the more middle of the road days."

The ultimate goal, is of course to return to WorldTour or a strong ProTeam. And starting off with a prestigious Australian title is as good as it gets. However, for now Eddy's going to stick around with Team Brennan until a serious offer arrives.

"I mean, there's been a little bit of interest, but nothing serious yet," said Eddy. "I think teams probably want to see more than one big performance so it's great that I'm here and can hopefully use my good form to try and do that.

"For the future, the focus and the goal is still to turn professional again in 2027 but if there is an opportunity to do that this year, then for sure, I'll take it, but I'm also just looking forward to the rest of the season with Team Brennan."