An Post manager Bogaerts believes Irish tactics unfair to McLaughlin at Worlds

McLaughlin battles up the Cauberg at the Elite World Road Race Championships in Valkenburg (Photo: Toby Watson)

An Post-Sean Kelly team manager, Kurt Bogaerts has said while he was pleased with the performances of his Irish riders – Ronan McLaughlin, Sean Downey and Sam Bennett – at the World Championships at the weekend, he criticised some of the Irish team tactics.

He believed McLaughlin’s form of late justified him being permitted a freer role in the elite race in Valkenburg, where he could attack early rather than ride in the peloton in support of his team mates Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche.

Said Bogaerts: “With Ronan, I was a little disappointed that the team’s tactics didn’t allow him to go out in the first breakaway. He proved at the Tour of Britain he has the legs and is more than capable so it would have been nice to see him go out with the early break, still he had a great race (finishing 105^th).”

Bogaerts expressed his satisfaction at Bennett’s 10th place in the U23 race and at Downey’s 30th in the U23 TT and 26th in the U23 road race.

“Sam was really unlucky not to finish in the top three in the U23 race,” he said.

“I felt he was barged out just before the sprint but he still managed 10th which was an excellent result. I was also very pleased with Sean’s performances in that race and the time trial.”

Bogaerts was speaking in advance of the An Post-Sean Kelly team’s ride in the Tour de Wallonie –Picarde (Franco-Belge UCI 2.1) which starts tomorrow, Thursday.

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The four-day race is far from an easy assignment, with some of the biggest teams in the world lining out including Team Sky and Radioshack-Nissan.

McLaughlin and Bennett will get to see if their late season form has stayed with them past last weekend’s Worlds after being named in the team’s eight-man roster for the race.

The Irish pair will be joined by Lithuanian national champion Gediminas Bagdonas, Belgians Pieter Ghyllebert, Kenneth Van Bilsen (who was 8th in the U23 Worlds Road Race), Roy Jans and Nils Wytinck, while Briton Mark McNally completes the team for the assignment in France and Belgium.

Bogaerts said while the An Post-Sean Kelly team will be one of the smaller outfits in the race, he still thinks winning a stage is a realistic goal.

“We will be racing against a very competitive line up of riders and teams so it will be difficult for us, but the way we have been riding recently will ensure that we have a big chance of making an impact on the race.”

“I have set the team a goal of winning a stage, so we’ll make sure we are part of the breakaways and then hopefully we will get a little bit of luck along the way.”

The race involves four road stages – 165.8km on Thursday, 178km Friday, 174km Saturday, 154km Sunday. While the first three stages have some climbs, they should suit the sprinters. The final stage is more testing, with no fewer than seven ascents of the Croix Jubaru to be contested.