Sean Kelly Team planning success from Belgian base

SEAN KELLY and Stephen Roche enthralled us year after year with their endeavours in the 1980s but Irish cycling has been more accustomed to bringing up the rear of the peloton since that halcyon era.

It will come as no surprise then to hear that the Carrick-on-Suir legend is spearheading a bid to re-cultivate some success with the launch yesterday of the Sean Kelly Team, an Irish outfit that will be based in Belgium.

The road ahead promises to be a long one. When Mark Scanlon was selected by his Ag2R Proyance team to compete in the 2004 Tour de France he was the eighth Irishman to do so but, more significantly, he was the first since Roche’s last Tour eleven years earlier.

“Young Irish riders have joined teams in Holland, France and Belgium in the past and not been looked after as well as we’d like,” explained Cycling Ireland’s Frankie Campbell. “We’d love the team to be competing in the top races right away but, initially, this is a developmental team. Maybe in two years’ time we’ll be able to compete in the bigger events.”

“Working with Cycling Ireland for the past few years, I have seen the talent that the country has to offer,” explains Kurt Bogearts who will be involved with running the new team.

“If these same cyclists were Belgian they would already be racing for a continental team, but it’s harder to get a place on a team if you are not from that country. That is why Cycling Ireland needs this team in order to help its talented riders.”

The team is to be based in Merchtem, where Bogearts has already been managing the Sean Kelly Academy for the last three years. The town, just outside Brussels, was also Kelly’s base of operations for ten years of his professional career.

“If Irish cyclists are to compete and succeed on the world-class stage then they need to be racing at a high standard week in week out,” explained Sean Kelly who will act as the team’s Director. “Until now, riders must have shown exceptional talent to be picked up by other continental teams.

“The launching of this team will provide a tool to channel Irish cyclists through to the professional ranks. Competing at continental level will bridge the gap between national racing and professional racing.”

Among those who will compete in the outfit’s first race in mid-February will be national U23 champion and Academy graduate Páidí O’Brien and ex VC La Pomme member Tim Cassidy.

A handful of older Belgian riders will also be present. Their race experience will be invaluable in the opening season as will the continued support of the many sponsors whose funding has made the venture possible.

Martin Donnelly, whose largesse is usually associated with the GAA, is one of two chief backers, Belgian company ACLVB Liberale Vakbond being the other. The Irish Sports Council and Olympic Council of Ireland are just two more of the 20 organisations contributing to the new outfit.