An Post-Sean Kelly manager Kurt Bogaerts (left) believes the team can progress further in 2013
By Brian Canty
The An Post-Sean Kelly team will continue its preparations ahead of the 2013 season with a 10-day training camp in Calpe, outside Alicante starting on Wednesday.
The camp, running from the 9th to the 19th, will see the full roster – with the exception of new signings Glenn O’Shea and Shane Archbold – log plenty of miles as well as getting to know each other better.
O’Shea and Archbold won’t be there as they are busy preparing for next month’s Track World Championships in Minsk, Ukraine, but will link up with the squad in their Belgian base after that.
The team held a one-week camp before Christmas and team manager Kurt Bogaerts hailed that a “successful camp.”
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“It was good to see all the new guys – except O’Shea and Archbold obviously - and we’re looking forward again to seeing how the guys are after Christmas. Those guys (O’Shea and Archbold) will join us when the track is finished at the end of February. They’ve good medal chances, both of them, and I think we have a good chance of a medal there.”
Having lost their star rider ‘Gedi’ Bagdonas to Ag2r La Mondiale for 2013, Bogaerts had a slight hint of regret but also a feeling that his team is headed in the right direction.
“It’s like that in our team; always starting from scratch. It means we are doing a good job if we are building a new team every year having lost guys. If you see that these guys can sign up to ProTour teams then it means we are working well.”
“Then we need to look for new riders. We’ve been doing that quite well the last couple of years. You’re just happy when the guys make the step. It’s part of our developing job that riders sign up to ProTour teams and then young riders come into us. They see our riders definitely have big capabilities to make the step up. But they all need to prove themselves so it’s a matter of getting the experience in and seeing what they can do and that’s what we strive to do.”
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“We wouldn’t sign any riders if we didn’t think they could make the step up. Of course it’s possible that we think guys can make the step and they don’t make the step. Like, some guys can ride at 45kph but just cannot ride 48kph so that’s what we try to find out with the riders.”
One man Bogaerts felt could have made the step to ProContinental – or even higher - last year was Ronan McLaughlin.
“With Ronan, he’s a very good rider and he would suit a lot of ProTour and Pro Continental teams in a helper’s role. But it’s very difficult for these guys to get the chance,” said Bogaerts.
“When they get the chance, they are very good for a team. They sometimes take a bit longer to get recognised, but Ronan is making progress every year and every year is coming closer to making the step to the next level.”
“Last year he did a very good Tour of Britain and some bosses were talking to him and were interested in him so, they will definitely follow up on it and we’ll see if he can step up. Last year he was just so close a few times, like in the stage of the Rás where he was caught 25 metres from the line after 80 kilometres on his own. That’s just something he needs to do – win a race and then he can make the step.”
“Sometimes it’s just that small a margin. I remember when I signed him in the team everyone was a bit surprised but now everyone speaks differently about him. We work hard with him and we give him a lot of trust. He ends up a lot of time in a helper’s role and that’s why he can be so important. He is definitely a guy who can make the step.”
Jack Wilson is a young rider who has recently signed and has huge potential. Bogaerts is predicting a bright future for him.
“These are just guys I take in the team that I want to work with for a couple of years. I brought him to two training camps last year. He’s a guy I want to give an opportunity to, to see how he goes in camp. I don’t expect too much from him this year because he is so young but if I don’t give him a chance this year, then he loses experience and the years when they really need to do it they don’t have it so if he gets experience this year and maybe he can win races the year after.”
“He was riding for a club team last year in Belgium and I followed it up. He rode a good World and European championships helping Bennett and he did a good job so they were two times he did a good job on a higher level and that’s why I gave him a chance.”
The team will have its official launch next month, with February 5th mooted as a possible date.
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