An Post-Sean Kelly’s Irish sprinter Sam Bennett and one of its star performers of last year Mark McNally have both been struck down with flu and forced to withdraw from the Volta ao Algarve which starts in Portugal tomorrow, Wednesday.
It was hoped both could recover in time for the tough season-opening five-day. However, their recovery as not been as quick as anticipated and given the quality of the field and the tough course for this year’s event, the team has decided to withdraw them.
That’s a frustrating start to 2012 for both riders, who are looking to bag some good early season results in the hope of attracting the attention of bigger teams who may have contracts to offer later in the year.
Replacing the duo on the start line tomorrow are Ronan McLaughlin and Belgian Joren Segers.
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McLaughlin has already raced a number of times this year, having gotten under his belt the Étoile de Bessège stage race and the one-day Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise.
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The only other An Post Irish rider on the start line tomorrow will be Connor McConvey.
However, Philip Deignan will be leading his new Unitedhealthcare team for the first time. Nicolas Roche will also be looking to test himself for the first time this year, leading the Ag2r line-up for the race.
An Post-Sean Kelly manager Kurt Bogaerts said he’s looking forward to the first major test of the season against some of the world’s best riders and teams.
“The Volta ao Algarve is always a tough test at the start of the season as we race against some big teams like Omega Pharma–Quickstep, Saxo Bank and SKY. We will look to attack and ride from the front, and I’m sure we can get some good results in the race.”
An Post Sean Kelly team for Volta ao Algarve
- Ronan McLaughlin (IRL)
- Connor McConvey (IRL)
- Mark Christian (UK)
- Niko Eeckhout (BEL)
- Pieter Ghyllabert (BEL)
- Joren Segers (BEL)
- Nils Wytinck (BEL)
- Gediminas Bagdonas (LTU)
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