An Post–Chain Reaction
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 with directeur sportif Andy Vanhoudt.
Team information | ||
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UCI code | SKT | |
Registered | Ireland (2006-09, 2014-17) / Belgium (2010-13) | |
Founded | 2006 | |
Disbanded | 2017 | |
Discipline(s) | Road | |
Status | UCI Continental | |
Bicycles | Vitus | |
Website | Team home page | |
Key personnel | ||
General manager | Kurt 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 | |
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The team was based at the Sean Kelly Academy in Merchtem, Flanders. It was registered in Ireland before switching to Belgian registration between 2010 and 2013 to gain access to more races in that region. The team became Irish-registered again in 2014.[2] The team disbanded at the end of the 2017 season after failing to find sponsorship.
2006-07 seasons
editThe team began in 2006 with the name Sean Kelly ACLVB–M Donnelly as the first Irish professional cycling team. Shortly after its launch another Irish continental team was launched, Murphy & Gunn–Newlyn. For the 2007 season, these two teams merged to form the Murphy & Gunn–Newlyn–M Donnelly–Sean Kelly squad.[3][4] The team achieved several good results including second overall in the Rás Tailteann with Paídi O'Brien.[5] At the end of 2007, it was announced that An Post would replace Murphy & Gunn as main sponsor while Grant Thornton replacing the Newlyn group as a co-sponsor.[6]
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
editFor the 2008 season, the team became more international with four Belgians, two Britons, one Swede and one German joining the six Irish riders.[7]
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.[8][9]
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.[10] Lloyd and Fleeman left the team after the 2008 season, both joining Cervélo TestTeam.[11]
2009 season
editThe team took six professional victories in 2009. Five of those victories were taken by Niko Eeckhout with three stage and two one-day race wins. Steven Van Vooren took the other with overall victory at Ronde de l'Oise.[12]
2010 season
editThe 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 their official domicile there since launching in 2006. However, being a foreign-registered team competing at the Continental rather than 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, leaving the switch to Belgium as the only option. He expected this would allow the team to compete in 10-20 more races per season.[13]
The team claimed their first national championship in 2010 with Matt Brammeier taking 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.[14] 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.[15]
2011 season
editLithuanian 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.[16]
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 holder of wins at all three Grand Tour races would take his first victory for the team at Grote Prijs Stad Geel.[17] Andrew Fenn took a stage at Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste and won the one-day race Memorial Philippe Van Coningsloo.[18] 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.[19][20]
2012 season
editThe team name changed to An Post–Sean Kelly for the 2012 season.
Gediminas Bagdonas was again the most successful rider, taking nine victories in the season. These included his first Lithuanian National Road Race Championships title, three stages and the overall victory at the Baltic Chain Tour, two stages of An Post Rás and victories in the one-day Memorial Philippe Van Coningsloo and Ronde van Noord-Holland races.
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.[21]
Bagdonas left the team at the end of 2012, joining Ag2r–La Mondiale.[22]
Ranking performance
editThe 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
editAs at 31 December 2017
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Major wins
edit- 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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ "An Post Chainreaction to register as Irish; targets pro-continental status and more sponsors". stickybottle.com. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- ^ "2007 team database. Note at bottom stating merger, Cyclingnews.com". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
- ^ "New look Irish continental team launched in Dublin". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
- ^ "Kenneally Takes Final Stage, Martin Wins Overall". FBD Insurance Ras.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
- ^ "An Post to sponsor Sean Kelly team". RTE.ie. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
- ^ "Sean Kelly pushes harder for 2008". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
- ^ procyclingstats (31 December 2012), Daniel Lloyd, retrieved 20 August 2022
- ^ "LLOYD WINS SPANISH STAGE RACE". cyclingweekly.com. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "An Post-M.Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly Team 2008". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "Cervelo Test Team 2009". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "An Post-M.Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly Team 2009". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/belgian-registration-for-an-post-sean-kelly-team/
- ^ https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/belgian-registration-for-an-post-sean-kelly-team/
- ^ "An Post-M.Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly Team 2010". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "Gediminas Bagdonas". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "Sam Bennett". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "Andrew Fenn". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "An Post-M.Donnelly-Grant Thornton-Sean Kelly Team 2011". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "La Mi-Août en Bretagne 2011: Stage 4 Results". cyclingnews.com. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ https://www.procyclingstats.com/team/an-post-sean-kelly-2012/overview/
- ^ http://www.velonation.com/News/currentpage/160.aspx