Kelly aiming to deliver with An Post team

CYCLING legend, Sean Kelly, unveiled his new An Post-sponsored cycling team at the GPO in Dublin yesterday and promised some big performances from the 14-man squad which is comprised of a mix of six Irish and eight foreign riders.

An Post lifted the Sean Kelly team to a new level late last year when they announced a major sponsorship that provided the money to strengthen the squad. Martin Donnelly, who is associated with a variety of sports in Ireland including boxing and Gaelic Games as well as cycling, and Grant Thornton, who were represented at yesterday’s team announcement by former national champion, Gearoid Costelloe, have also reinforced their contributions to the team expenses.

“It all means that we have been able to put an exciting team of riders together,” Kelly pointed out.

“We now have a very exciting rider in Christian Muller who is a three-time German champion as well as European U23 time trial champion and Kenny Lisabeth from Belgium who is a former winner of the Classic Ghent-Lepes and the Tour of Vlams as well as stages in the Tour of Noumour while Frank van Kuiik has won the Tour of Limburg, the Gent-Ieper and the Klien Branbast Classic.

“We have been trying to put a team like this together for some time but until this year we were tied by budget constraints. Now, thanks to the generous sponsorship from An Post, we are able to bring in the type of riders we needed to strengthen the squad.

“Of course we would like to have a team of Irish riders. Unfortunately, we don’t have the riders at the moment but I feel that won’t always be the case because young riders will soon see that they have a great opportunity to pursue professional careers.’’

He was quick to point out that they would not be looking to get the An Post team into the Tour de France but they would provide riders with a platform that would launch them on to a ProTour team.

“There is a gap there and we want to fill it,” he said. “We have lost good amateur riders in the past because they had nowhere to go. I would like to think that those days are over.”

Some of those young riders will be back in Ireland at Easter for Rás Mumhan.

It will be a homecoming for Denis Dunworth from Killorglin while Meathman Isaac Spears won a stage in that event last year. “Rás Mumhan and races like that will be available for the younger guys,” Kelly said. “They also have a programme of races in Belgium, France and Germany.”

At the top end of the scale Paidí O’Brien, who cut his teeth with Kanturk Credit Union, will be chasing the big prizes.

Last year he had three second places in stages and finished second overall in the FBD Insurance Rás and his target will be a stage win, at least, when this year’s edition of the race gets under way on May 18.

“It is all very exciting,” the Corkman said. “I had a great year last year and I hope to build on that. I had a great Rás and I was very happy with it. It gives me the hunger to come back in May and get a stage win but the most important thing would be for someone from our team to win the overall classification and we can look towards that now because we have riders who can do it and the fact that it is down in Munster makes it really special.”

He has the pedigree to do something special himself — two-time national U23 champion and silver and bronze medallist in the elite championship. He was one of the first riders to go to Belgium when the Sean Kelly Academy was set up in 2004 and is now in his third year on the Sean Kelly team. “Sean (Kelly) has a big influence on the team. Sean and Kurt are always communicating and when Sean is present the morale is always very high in the house and if there is a race you will do that much better just because he is there.’’

Last year An Post sponsored the green points jersey in the Tour of Ireland and their sponsorship of the Sean Kelly team is the beginning of a major investment in Irish cycling, according to CEO Donal Connell.

“We believe that our involvement with the Sean Kelly team will help ensure Ireland’s best young riders have the chance to fulfil their potential and gain invaluable experience and exposure in international cycling,” he said. “This team is now a benchmark for youngsters getting into the sport in Ireland.”

The An Post/M. Donnelly/Grant Thornton Sean Kelly Team is: Paidi O’Brien (Cork), Mark Cassidy (Meath), Stephen Gallagher (Armagh), Ronan McLaughlin (Donegal), Isaac Speirs (Meath), Denis Dunworth (Kerry), Benny Deschrooder (Belgium), Kenny Lisabett (Belgium), Reino Stofferis (Belgium), Frank Van Kurk (Belgium), Christian Muller (Germany), Victor Folkeran (Sweden), Daniel Lloyd (Great Britain), Daniel Fleeman (Great Britain).