McLaughlin (in green, centre) has made the cut for the Tour of Britain as expected
The Irish duo of Ronan McLaughlin and Sam Bennett have been confirmed in the An Post-Sean Kelly line-up for the Tour of Britain which starts in Ipswich on Sunday.
Irish U23 international Sean Downey had been named in the team’s provisional line-up but will not ride the British tour because he has been picked for the U23 time trial at the World Championships, just one day after the Tour of Britain finishes.
Bennett and McLaughlin will tackle the nine-stage race with Belgian team mates Pieter Ghyllebert and Niels Wytinck, British rider Mark McNally and Lithuanian champion and 2012 Olympian Gediminas Bagdonas.
The team goes into the 1,350km race with high hopes after having its best season to date in 2012 and following on from Bagdonas’s stage win last year. Both McLaughlin and Bennett have been going very well of late and will be looking to get a result next week.
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Team manager Kurt Bogaerts said while he was very hopeful the team can repeat their success in the race last year, when Pieter Ghyllebert also won the sprints jersey, he said it would be a tough task given the quality of the field.
“Gediminas’s stage win was very special considering the calibre of the teams and riders involved. It gave us a great boost going into the World Championships and hopefully we can repeat that this time around,” he said.
“Last year we were aggressive in every stage and it paid off so we will look to do the same. It’s vital that we stay with the breakaways and if it comes down to a bunch sprint we are confident we can get a result. It won’t be easy by any means but we have proven we can compete at this level and our recent performances have shown that.”
He was looking forward to seeing how McLaughlin and Bennett would fare in a field that includes Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish.
“Both the Irish guys deserve their place in the team as they have been riding very well of late. Bennett has made quite a few top 10’s recently and Ronan has been so consistent throughout the season. It’s a big opportunity for them to show what they are capable of and I’m sure they will do just that.”
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