An Post-Chainreaction names new Irish riders for 2016

Daniel Stewart has been riding well in France and on the national U23 team and now gets his chance with An Post-Chainreaction (Photo: Andréa Quémener)

With the transfer market the usual hive of activity and a lot of Irish riders on the move, An Post-Chainreaction has not been left behind and on Thursday unveiled most of its line-up for next year.

Ryan Mullen, Conor Dunne, Eoin McCarthy and Sean Downey may have departed at the end of the 2015 campaign, but Jack Wilson remains with the team.

And he is joined by new signings David Montgomery and Connor McConvey, both of whom rode for the Belgian Continental squad Team 3M this year.

Daniel Stewart, who has ridden very well in France this year and last season, also makes the cut in what is a great move for him.

Montgomery (20) has to date in his career mainly been an MTB and cyclocross rider but is hugely strong on the road too and will seek to develop there in the next couple of years.

He is currently in Belgium riding the European cyclocross scene and last weekend rode the U23 race at the European Cyclocross Championships.

McConvey (27) is one of the very best riders in the country and first rode for the An Post-Sean Kelly team in 2010 as a 22-year-old. And has since competed with David McQuaid’s Synergy-Baku for two seasons and Team 3M this year.

David Montgomery on his way to the best result of the Irish team at the U23 Tour of Flanders this year. It was his first ever international road race (Photo with thanks to Jens Morel)

Stewart’s (20) joining An Post-Chainreaction represents the first time he has ridden at Continental level and that step up comes as great reward for a talented and hard working young rider.

He has been riding for French team Hennebont for the past couple of seasons, with a big step up in standard of racing and in his development hopefully awaiting him next season.

Wilson (22) is an old hand with An Post-Chainreaction and, now aged 22 years, is entering his fourth season with the team and his sixth in Europe.

The former U23 and junior national road race champion will look to get stronger again this year and see where that can carry him.

Stickybottle understands two more Irish riders will be named on the team in the not too distant future, with negotiations on their signings now at an advanced stage. And talks are also beginning with a third Irish man.

If they agree terms, as is expected, it would bring the number of Irish on the team to seven next year; the highest since the squad moved up a gear with the joint backing of both An Post and Chainreactioncycles in recent years.

And in further welcome news for the squad, Chainreactioncycles has also confirmed it is extended its backing of the squad for at least another two years to the end of 2017.

McConvey joins An Post-Chainreaction for what will be his third stint with the squad. He is a potential Rás winner (Photo: Tour de Normandie)

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The company said working with the team had been a great opportunity, not least because of development of its Vitus brand, the bikes the team has been riding in recent seasons.

Team principal Sean Kelly said he was excited about the new riders coming on board and with the continued backing of the world’s biggest online retailer.

“It’s great that we’re renewing our partnership with both Chainreactioncycles and Vitus Bikes,” he said. “It’s been a fantastic journey so far and this continuation is good for the team.

“Our team is a proving ground for some of the best riders to step up and advance with their careers, which shows how good a job we’re doing.

“From an Irish cycling point of view we’ve got great hopes for Jack Wilson in 2016, and we’re working with him to get him to where we know he can be. Jack’s improving with age and will hopefully make the step next year.”

Team manage Kurt Bogaerts echoed those sentiments saying while he was really looking forward to working with the Irish riders next year, he believed the squad had real strength in depth right across the rider roster.

“We have some very exciting prospects in the team for 2016 including Irish riders Jack Wilson, Conor McConvey and David Montgomery,” he said.

Jack Wilson is going into his fourth season with the team and his sixth on the Continent (Photo: Sirotti)

Bogaerts continued: “Daniel Stewart has raced in France with some good results and shown good potential. One of his targets will be to ride well with the Irish team in the U23 Nations Cup, so we are looking forward to that.

“We’re also pleased to have signed Dutch rider Jasper Bovenhuis, who was a trainee for Cannondale last year and took the win at the Arno Wallaard in Holland.

“We’re pleased to welcome Belgian rider Emiel Wastyn, who won the biggest pro kermesse in Belgium last year, as well as Australian Calvin Watson, who rode for three years as part of the Trek Factory Pro Tour team.”

“Our partnership with Chain Reaction Cycles and Vitus Bikes has been a very successful one so far, and we look forward to building on this over the next few seasons.”

Chainreactioncycles head of marketing Damien Duggan said having strong Irish riders in the squad had always been one of its strengths.

“Having a strong contingent of Irish riders is very important as we continue to support grass roots cycling,” he said.

“An Post- Chainreaction as a development team is a great fit for us – we have always had a great mix of experience and international talent which makes for a great line up.

“We are very excited about the next phase of our journey.”