After his contract with Picnic PostNL wasn’t renewed for 2026, Patrick Eddy made the decision to step down from the WorldTour and join Australian Continental outfit Team Brennan for 2026, pausing his European pro career at just 23.
But only 11 days into the new year of racing back at home, Eddy powered to his first win in six years – and not just any win, but the men’s elite Australian road race title, beating Luke Plapp and all of Jayco AlUla in the process.
When a 14-rider breakaway got five minutes up the road in Perth on Sunday – without Eddy in it, though two of his teammates were – the 23-year-old thought it was over for the peloton, but a dramatic fightback and then an offensive ride from Team Brennan saw Eddy and Plapp catch solo leader Luke Durbridge, before battling it out for the line, with the underdog taking the win.
Coming just months after Eddy lost his place in the WorldTour, this is his first since he became junior national champion in 2019. Despite attracting the attention of Picnic PostNL – he rode for their development team and then WorldTour squad between 2022 and 2025 – his European career highlights only include a few top-fives in lower-level races.
Eddy raced a full season in Europe in 2025, racing most of the cobbled Classics for Picnic PostNL and even making his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España, but a lack of any major results saw him without a contract going into 2026.
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