‘I think I’ve found myself again’: Eddy becomes king of the road

BENDIGO cyclist Pat Eddy insists his boilover Australian National Road Championships win in Perth this month has helped him rekindle his passion following a disappointing few seasons abroad.

The 23-year-old put the disappointment of not having his WorldTour contract with Dutch team Picnic PostNL renewed for 2026 well and truly behind him, capturing his first national crown in six years.

Eddy, who claimed both the junior road race and time trial titles in 2019 and went back-to-back in the time trial a year later, was without a win since turning pro five years ago.

Now riding for Australian Continental squad Team Brennan, he spent the previous four years of his career with Picnic PostNL, riding for their WorldTour set-up in 2024 and 2025.

Admitting to some dark weeks after his contract was not renewed for 2026, Eddy – a proud member of both the Bendigo and District and Echuca-Moama cycling clubs – turned heartache into triumph.

Staring down the might of Team Jayco AlUla, Eddy stormed home in a dramatic final lap to chase down the solo leader Luke Durbridge, before beating three-time national champion Lucas Plapp in a one-on-one sprint finish.

He said the win meant everything.

“I have pretty much won nothing since I won junior nationals. I lost myself as a rider for the last few years. I think I’ve found myself again,” Eddy said.

“I started to forget what it was like to win a bike race, (but) this is what I fell in love with.

“It’s good to be back, it means everything.

“I feel like most of the cycling world gave up on me.

“There was just a handful of people around me, kept believing in me and told me to keep hustling. This is for them.”

Based these days in Girona, Spain, but back in Bendigo ahead of the upcoming Tour Down Under, Eddy is looking forward to donning the green-and-gold colours of the ARA Australian Cycling Team at the Santos Tour Down Under and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

 

“Growing up, watching guys like Durbo and Gerro (Simon Gerrans) and Miles (Scotson) wearing the green and gold over in Europe − I just can’t believe I’m the one doing that now,” Eddy said.

“It just happened so fast. There have been some real special guys to wear it, and I just hope I can do it proud.”

Bendigo and District Cycling Club vice-president and media officer Darren Casey was optimistic a WorldTour team would again eventually come calling for Eddy.

“It is just one race, so he needs to back it up, but I think being in the national team in the Tour Down Under gives him every chance,” he said.

“If he gets a great result there it would really push him forward.

“It was an incredible win, overcoming Australia’s premier WorldTour team, but a big effort at the Tour Down Under gives him even more of an opportunity.

“It’s a tough market – there were 72 WorldTour riders (from last year), who didn’t get a contract this year.

“But as Tim Dekker says, ‘When you become a national champion, you become a different person’.”

Eddy joined Peta Mullens (2015) and Darren Lapthorne (2007) as elite national road title champions.

Lapthorne, now a regional manager with V/Line, was one of the first to contact Eddy and offer his congratulations.

Casey hailed as ‘remarkable” the Bendigo and District club’s proud history of producing national road champions.

“To wear the green and gold is special, so we are pretty lucky,” he said.

“The Bendigo club is looked at worldwide as one of Australia’s premier clubs in producing WorldTour riders.

“You’ve got Jack Haig, Chris Hamilton and Alex Evans, so it’s pretty incredible.”