Waterford, Ireland — When Team Type 1 signed Matt Wilson, it was assumed the 2004 Australian national road champion would be a pillar of experience for the first-year professional team.
A broken wrist sustained in training in March interrupted those plans for a time. But an ever-determined Wilson never let the injury get in the way of helping the team out - be it at the Tour de Georgia in April, the Tour de Beauce in June or Wednesday at the Tour of Ireland.
Displaying the form that has won him three races this season, Wilson drove a breakaway that nearly stayed away to the finish of the opening stage of the Tour of Ireland. And his extraordinary efforts were rewarded with the donning of the red jersey of King of the Mountain leader after winning three of the four categorized climbs along the 119-mile (192 km) route.
Mark Cavendish (Team Colombia) won the field sprint in Waterford ahead of Julian Dean (Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30) and Alexander Kristoff (Joker-Bianchi Team) to earn the yellow jersey of overall race leader. In July, Cavendish won four stages of the Tour de France.
Wilson figured prominently into what was unexpectedly a tough opening stage of the five-day, 547-mile (881 km) race.
Following several short-lived breakaway attempts, Travis Meyer (SouthAustralia.com), David George (MTN South Africa) and Irish rider Martyn Irvine (Pezula) built a 15-second advantage. Seeing the opportunity, Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon ordered Wilson to jump across the gap.
The four quickly worked together to build a lead that topped off at nearly eight minutes. Meanwhile, Wilson was racking up King of the Mountains points by winning the Category 1 climb of Mount Leinster. By the time the leaders reached the hot spot sprint in Borris 83 miles into the race, it was only Wilson and Meyer at the front, as the other two escapees could not keep pace.
The two could not hold off the charging efforts of Team Colombia and Garmin-Chipotle, though. With less than six miles remaining, Wilson and Meyer were reeled in.
Wilson told Cyclingnews.com reporter Shane Stokes that it would have been hard to stay away to the finish.
"I was really hoping that a few more guys would come along with us and we would have a better chance of staying away and setting up a bit of a GC (general classification)," Wilson said. "But there was only four of us out there and unfortunately we lost two of them about halfway through, so there was just me and the other Aussie guy left out front. He was really strong and we gave it a good shot."
Wilson told Ben Delaney of VeloNews.com that he has a good chance of hanging onto the red jersey of King of the Mountain leader.
"I've got a strong team here, so I'm sure they'll help me defend it."
Valeriy Kobzarenko was Team Type 1's top finisher on the day in 12th place. Wilson is the team's best-placed rider overall, eight seconds behind Cavendish in fourth place.
While Team Type 1 was celebrating Wilson's accomplishment, it was also lamenting the loss of Glen Chadwick, who did not finish the stage.
"Glen was having serious sinus problems and had real difficulty breathing," Beamon said. "Maybe all the travel this month finally caught up to him.
"It's a big disappointment especially since he would be very helpful trying to set Matty up for the KOM in the next couple of days. But Kobzarenko and Moises (Aldape) look good, and I think they will all get stronger as the week goes on."
Chadwick finished third at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah earlier this month and joined Aldape as the team's representatives at the Olympic Games in Beijing for New Zealand and Mexico, respectively.
Racing continues Thursday with an up-and-down, 98-mile (158 km) stage from Thurles to Loughrea. The Versus Network will provide a one-hour recap show at 6 p.m. EST/3 p.m. PST.
Photo: Copyright Margaret O'Kelly
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