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An Post–Chain Reaction

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An Post–Chain Reaction
Team information
UCI codeSKT
RegisteredIreland (2006-09, 2014-17) / Belgium (2010-13)
Founded2006 (2006)
Disbanded2017
Discipline(s)Road
StatusUCI Continental
BicyclesVitus
WebsiteTeam home page
Key personnel
General managerKurt Bogaerts
Team manager(s)Niko Eeckhout[1]
Team name history
2006
2007
2008–2011
2012
2013–2017
Sean Kelly ACLVB–M Donnelly
Murphy & Gunn–Newlyn–M Donnelly–Sean Kelly
An Post–M Donnelly–Grant Thornton–Sean Kelly
An Post–Sean Kelly
An Post–Chain Reaction
An Post–Chain Reaction jersey
An Post–Chain Reaction jersey
Jersey

An Post–Chain Reaction (UCI team code: SKT) was a UCI continental professional cycling team that participated on the UCI Europe Tour. The squad was managed by Kurt Bogaerts and Sean Kelly.

It contested one-day and stage races at events across Europe, with riders taking overall victories on the UCI Europe Tour at races including Vuelta a Extremadura in Spain, Rás Tailteann in Ireland and Ronde de l'Oise in France. There were also successes in higher-category races including the one-day Schaal Sels in the Netherlands and two stage wins at the Tour of Britain. Six elite and five junior national road and time trial championships were won by riders contracted to the team.

The squad was based at the Sean Kelly Academy in Merchtem, Flanders. It was registered in Ireland before switching to Belgium between 2010 and 2013 to gain access to more races in that country. The team became Irish-registered again in 2014 and declared an ambition to move up to professional continental level.[2] However, the team disbanded at the end of the 2017 season after failing to find sponsorship for 2018.

2006-07 seasons

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1988 Vuelta a España and seven-time Paris–Nice winner Sean Kelly launched the first Irish professional cycling team in 2006 with the name Sean Kelly ACLVB–M Donnelly. Its sponsors were ACLVB, the General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium,[3] and M Donnelly, a Dublin-registered company with interests in various technical, sporting and commercial lines of business.[4]

Murphy & Gunn–Newlyn, another Irish continental team, was launched later in 2006. For the 2007 season, these two teams merged to form the Murphy & Gunn–Newlyn–M Donnelly–Sean Kelly squad.[5][6] The team achieved several good results including second overall in the Rás Tailteann for Paídi O'Brien.[7]

At the end of 2007, it was announced that the team would retain three title sponsors as well as the name of its founder for 2008. An Post, the national postal service of Ireland, would replace Murphy & Gunn as main sponsor while professional services company Grant Thornton replaced the Newlyn group as a co-sponsor.[8]

Kurt Bogaerts rode for the team in 2006, his final year as a professional cyclist. He was appointed general manager of the team for the 2007 season.

2008 season

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For the 2008 season, the team now known as An Post–M Donnelly–Grant Thornton–Sean Kelly became more international with four Belgians, two Britons, one Swede and one German joining the six Irish riders.[9]

Daniel Lloyd was the general classification winner and the team was victorious on stage 1, a team time trial, at the 2008 Vuelta a Extremadura. Paidi O'Brien, Benny De Schrooder and Lloyd all wore the leader's jersey during the race, the latter taking overall victory by 36 seconds.[10][11]

2008 also saw overall victories for Stephen Gallagher at the FBD Insurance Ras in Ireland and Daniel Fleeman at the Tour des Pyrénées which raced from France to Spain.[12]

Lloyd and Fleeman left the team after the 2008 season, both joining Cervélo TestTeam.[13]

2009 season

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The team took six professional victories in 2009, of which five went to Niko Eeckhout. He followed up the team's 2008 general classification win at the Vuelta a Extremadura with two stage victories, and took a stage and the points jersey at Rás Tailteann. He also scored one-day race wins at Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem and Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen, as well as a second-place finish at the prestigious Dwars door Vlaanderen.[14] Steven Van Vooren took the other win with overall victory at Ronde de l'Oise.[15]

2010 season

[edit]

The team switched registration from Ireland to Belgium for the 2010 season. Despite being based in Flanders, the team's owners and sponsors were Irish and had maintained its official domicile there since launching in 2006. However, being a foreign-registered team competing below the Professional Continental level meant the team was ineligible for many Belgian races, including the Tour of Belgium and E3 Harelbeke. Team General Manager Kurt Bogaerts noted that moving to Professional Continental level would be prohibitively expensive, but switching to Belgium was possible as long as there were at least eight Belgian riders in the squad. He expected this would allow the team to compete in 10-20 more races per season.[16]

A rider from the team claimed a national championship for the first time when Matt Brammeier took the first of his four consecutive victories in the Irish National Cycling Championships road race. Liverpool-born Brammeier had previously represented Great Britain but switched his allegiance to Ireland prior to the 2010 season.[17] Nico Eeckhout took stage wins in the Ronde de l'Oise and Etoile de Bessèges, and Mark Cassidy and David O'Loughlin both won a stage at the FBD Insurance Ras.[18]

2011 season

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Lithuanian rider Gediminas Bagdonas joined the team for 2011 and quickly established himself as a stand-out performer. Bagdonas delighted the team's title sponsor at Rás Tailteann, known that year as An Post Rás, with wins on stages two and four on his way to the overall victory. He won a stage and also the overall at Ronde de l'Oise before taking his second Lithuanian National Time Trial Championships title. He rounded out a fine year with victory on stage seven ahead of a high-quality field at the 2011 Tour of Britain.[19]

An Post also signed the promising Irish sprinter Sam Bennett who quickly showed his quality with second place on stage one of An Post Rás. The future winner of stages at all three Grand Tour races would take his first victory for the team at Grote Prijs Stad Geel.[20] Andrew Fenn took a stage at Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste and won the one-day race Memorial Philippe Van Coningsloo.[21] Nico Eeckhout had a quieter season, his sole victory coming early in the season at Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. Mark McNally claimed overall victory at the Mi-août en Bretagne.[22][23]

2012 season

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The team name changed to An Post–Sean Kelly for the 2012 season.

Gediminas Bagdonas had another strong season, taking five victories representing An Post and a further four riding for the Lithuania national team. These included his first Lithuanian National Road Race Championships title, two stages of An Post Rás and victories in the one-day Memorial Philippe Van Coningsloo and Ronde van Noord-Holland races. He also won three stages and the overall victory at the Baltic Chain Tour representing his national team, came 59th in the 2012 Olympic Games road race, finished 3rd in his national time trial championships and took the points jersey at An Post Rás.

Nico Eeckhout scored one-day wins at Omloop der Kempen and Schaal Sels, and Roy Jans claimed the Kattekoers. Kenneth Vanbilsen took the win at Ronde van Vlaanderen U23 representing the Belgian National Team.[24]

Bagdonas left the team at the end of 2012, joining Ag2r–La Mondiale.[25]

Ranking performance

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The SKT team was UCI ranked 31st out of 125 teams at the end of the 2009 UCI Europe Tour season with 481 points. The team was ranked 46th out of 110 teams on the UCI Europe Tour rankings for 2010 with 314 points. It improved ranking to 21st out of 114 teams in 2011 with 648 points, with the team's highest points scorers being Mark McNally with 125 and Andrew Fenn, who scored 122. The team had their best ever season in 2012, finishing 16th out of 125 teams in the final rankings on 879 points. Gediminas Bagdonas was the team's highest points scorer with 346 points, a tally that was good enough to put him in tenth place in the individual standings. Niko Eeckhout contributed 187 points to the tally, while Kenneth Vanbilsen scored 131. In 2013 the team finished 28th overall with a total of 341 points.

Team roster

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As at 31 December 2017

Rider Date of birth
 Jonas Bokeloh (GER) (1996-03-16)16 March 1996 (aged 21)
 Daniel Gardner (GBR) (1996-03-06)6 March 1996 (aged 21)
 Regan Gough (NZL) (1996-10-06)6 October 1996 (aged 21)
 Davy Gunst (NED) (1995-01-30)30 January 1995 (aged 22)
 Conor Hennebry (IRL) (1993-02-16)16 February 1993 (aged 24)
 Adam Jamieson (CAN) (1996-02-12)12 February 1996 (aged 21)
 Przemysław Kasperkiewicz (POL) (1994-03-01)1 March 1994 (aged 23)
 Sean MacKinnon (CAN) (1995-11-24)24 November 1995 (aged 22)
Rider Date of birth
 Sean McKenna (IRL) (1994-03-08)8 March 1994 (aged 23)
 Albert Muela Galvez (ESP) (1996-05-13)13 May 1996 (aged 21)
 Jacob Scott (GBR) (1995-06-14)14 June 1995 (aged 22)
 Damien Shaw (IRL) (1984-07-10)10 July 1984 (aged 33)
 Mark Stewart (GBR) (1995-08-25)25 August 1995 (aged 22)
 Matthew Teggart (IRL) (1996-01-08)8 January 1996 (aged 21)
 Bas Tietema (NED) (1995-01-29)29 January 1995 (aged 22)
 Massimo Vanderaerden (BEL) (1995-01-21)21 January 1995 (aged 22)

Major wins

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2008
Overall Vuelta a Extremadura, Daniel Lloyd
Stage 1, Team Time Trial
Overall FBD Insurance Rás, Stephen Gallagher
Overall Tour des Pyrénées, Daniel Fleeman
2009
Stages 4 & 5 Vuelta a Extremadura, Niko Eeckhout
Stage 1 FBD Insurance Rás, Niko Eeckhout
Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Steven Van Vooren
Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem, Niko Eeckhout
Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen, Niko Eeckhout
2010
 Ireland Irish Road Race Championship, Matt Brammeier
Stage 5 Étoile de Bessèges, Niko Eeckhout
Stage 3 Ronde de l'Oise, Niko Eeckhout
Stage 3 FBD Insurance Rás, David O'Loughlin
Stage 7 FBD Insurance Rás, Mark Cassidy
2011
 Lithuania Time Trial Championships, Gediminas Bagdonas
Stage 2 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, Niko Eeckhout
Stage 7 Tour de Bretagne Cycliste, Andrew Fenn
Overall An Post Rás, Gediminas Bagdonas
Stages 2 & 4, Gediminas Bagdonas
Memorial Van Coningsloo, Andrew Fenn
Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Gediminas Bagdonas
Stage 2, Gediminas Bagdonas
GP Stad Geel, Sam Bennett
Overall Mi-Août en Bretagne, Mark McNally
Stage 7 Tour of Britain, Gediminas Bagdonas
2012
 Lithuania Road Race Championships, Gediminas Bagdonas
Kattekoers, Roy Jans
Ronde van Noord-Holland, Gediminas Bagdonas
Omloop der Kempen, Niko Eeckhout
Stages 3 & 8 An Post Rás, Gediminas Bagdonas
Memorial Van Coningsloo, Gediminas Bagdonas
Schaal Sels, Niko Eeckhout
2013
Stage 5 Tour of Britain, Sam Bennett
Stage 2 An Post Rás, Shane Archbold
Stages 3 & 8 An Post Rás, Sam Bennett
Stage 2 Ronde de l'Oise, Glenn O'Shea
 Ireland Under-23 Road Race Championships, Jack Wilson
2014
Stage 1 An Post Rás, Robert-Jon McCarthy
 Ireland Under-23 Time Trial Championships, Ryan Mullen
 Ireland Road Race Championships, Ryan Mullen
 Ireland Under-23 Road Race Championships, Ryan Mullen
2015
Stage 3 Tour d'Azerbaïdjan, Josh Edmondson
Stages 2 & 5 An Post Rás, Aaron Gate
Stages 4 & 8 An Post Rás, Aidis Kruopis
Overall Ronde de l'Oise, Josh Edmondson
Stage 4, Josh Edmondson
 Ireland Time Trial Championships, Ryan Mullen
 Lithuania Road Race Championships, Aidis Kruopis
Antwerpse Havenpijl, Aidis Kruopis
2017
 New Zealand Under-23 Time Trial Championships, Regan Gough
 New Zealand Under-23 Road Race Championships, Regan Gough
Stage 1 Tour du Loir et Cher, Damien Shaw
Stage 5 Tour de Bretagne, Przemysław Kasperkiewicz
Stage 3 An Post Rás, Matthew Teggart
Stage 5 An Post Rás, Regan Gough
Stage 8 An Post Rás, Przemysław Kasperkiewicz

National champions

[edit]
2010
Ireland Road Race Matt Brammeier
2011
Lithuania Time Trial Gediminas Bagdonas
2012
Lithuania Road Race Gediminas Bagdonas
2013
Ireland Under-23 Road Race Jack Wilson
2014
Ireland Under-23 Time Trial Ryan Mullen
Ireland Road Race Ryan Mullen
Ireland Under-23 Road Race Ryan Mullen
2015
Ireland Time Trial Ryan Mullen
Lithuania Road Race Aidis Kruopis
2017
New Zealand Under-23 Time Trial, Regan Gough
New Zealand Under-23 Road Race, Regan Gough

References

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  1. ^ Stoes, Shane (7 December 2013). "Eeckhout takes up coaching and directeur sportif role with An Post Chainreaction Sean Kelly team". velonation.com. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  2. ^ "An Post Chainreaction to register as Irish; targets pro-continental status and more sponsors". stickybottle.com. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  3. ^ "ACLVB".
  4. ^ "M. DONNELLY & CO. LIMITED". www.dnb.com.
  5. ^ "2007 team database. Note at bottom stating merger, Cyclingnews.com". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
  6. ^ "New look Irish continental team launched in Dublin". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  7. ^ "Kenneally Takes Final Stage, Martin Wins Overall". FBD Insurance Ras.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  8. ^ "An Post to sponsor Sean Kelly team". RTE.ie. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  9. ^ "Sean Kelly pushes harder for 2008". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  10. ^ procyclingstats (31 December 2012), Daniel Lloyd, retrieved 20 August 2022
  11. ^ "LLOYD WINS SPANISH STAGE RACE". cyclingweekly.com. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  12. ^ "An Post-M.Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly Team 2008". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Cervelo Test Team 2009". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Niko Eeckhout".
  15. ^ "An Post-M.Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly Team 2009". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Belgian registration for an Post Sean Kelly Team". 27 November 2009.
  17. ^ "Belgian registration for an Post Sean Kelly Team". 27 November 2009.
  18. ^ "An Post-M.Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly Team 2010". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Gediminas Bagdonas". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Sam Bennett". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Andrew Fenn". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  22. ^ "An Post-M.Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly Team 2011". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  23. ^ "La Mi-Août en Bretagne 2011: Stage 4 Results". cyclingnews.com. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  24. ^ "An Post - Sean Kelly 2012".
  25. ^ "Cycling News | VeloNation".
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