Sean Downey and Sam Bennett will line out tomorrow, Wednesday, as the Irish representatives in the An Post-Sean Kelly team at the GP Van de Stad Geel. The UCI 1.2 race in Belgium was won by Bennett last year and he would dearly love to defend that title.
Any UCI points Downey or Bennett could pick up would prove invaluable towards moving Ireland up the U23 UCI European rankings and well into the 26 nations that will qualify a team for the U23 World Championships in Holland in September.
Ireland was lying in 26th place, the last qualifying position, in the latest rankings published just over a week ago.
A second place scored by U23 National Champion Philip Lavery in the UCI 1.2 GP Pont a Marcq in Northern France on Sunday will have aided Ireland’s points total. However, with the window for scoring UCI points towards U23 Worlds qualification open until August 15th, the U23s will most likely need more points in order to guarantee a place for Ireland at the championships.
Bennett and Downey tomorrow form part of a seven-man An Post-Sean Kelly team which also includes Roy Jans, Joren Segers, Niels Wytinck, Mark McNally and Scott Law.
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Bennett was aided in his victory last year by an impressive team performance that set up a bunch sprint for him and positioned him well towards the end of the race.
Manager Kurt Bogaerts is hoping for a similar outcome again this time around.
“The team had an excellent win at this race last year. Sam rode comfortably all day and timed his attack perfectly to the finish line. It was a great win for him and one which gave him a lot of confidence.”
“The route is very flat so it will be a fast race from the off. If we can get one or two of the riders in the breakaways and working as a team then I’m confident we can get a result.”
Team for GP Van de Stad Geel (1.2) 11th July 2012
- Sam Bennett
- Sean Downey
- Joren Segers
- Niels Wytinck
- Roy Jans
- Mark McNally
- Scott Law
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