By Graham Healy
Ronan McLaughlin has been named as part of the An Post–Sean Kelly line-up for what will be his last European race of the season, Nationale Sluitingprijs - Putte–Kapellen.
He will face stiff competition in the 184-kilometre UCI 1.1 race tomorrow, Tuesday, as World Tour teams Lotto-Belisol and Vacansoleil are also taking part.
McLaughlin will hope to maintain the form he showed recently in both the Tour of Britain and the World Championships.
Last year’s race was won by Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ) with Andy Fenn finishing best of the An Post team. Fenn was 15th in the race which was decided in a bunch sprint. The race has been won in the past by the likes of Tom Steels, Adri van der Poel and Eddy Merckx.
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McLaughlin lines out tomorrow alongside his Belgian team mates Niko Eeckhout, Pieter Ghyllebert, Joren Segers, Niels Wytinck, Kenneth Van Bilsen and Roy Jans. They will face 11 laps of a 17-kilometre circuit.
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The circuit on the Dutch-Belgian border is completely flat, which may result in this year’s race also coming down to a bunch sprint. The team will be hoping for another good performance in their final race of the season.
An Post-Sean Kelly manager, Kurt Bogaerts is hoping McLaughlin and the team can end on a high note what has been a very strong year.
“This season has been great for the development of many of our riders, I’ve been particularly pleased with how Ronan and the other Irish riders have progressed,” he said.
“Tomorrow’s race is an opportunity to finish the season with a good result against a strong field.”
Once tomorrow’s assignment is over, the team will take a break until December when they return for a pre-season training camp in Calpe, Spain.
Sluitingsprijs Putte-Kapellen (UCI 1.1)
- Ronan McLaughlin (IRL)
- Kenneth Van Bilsen (BEL)
- Niko Eeckhout (BEL)
- Pieter Ghyllebert (BEL)
- Joren Segers (BEL)
- Niels Wytinck (BEL)
- Roy Jans (BEL)
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