Saxo-Bank’s Bellis signs for An Post-Sean Kelly, Philip Lavery departs

Bellis (right) after winning U23 World Road Race bronze in 2007

Former Saxo-Bank pro Jonny Bellis has been unveiled as the star signing for the An Post-Sean Kelly team for next season, though Dubliner Philip Lavery is parting ways with the Belgian-Irish outfit after a difficult year.

One of the team's best performers of 2011, Mark McNally has re-signed after an offer from Europcar fell through.

An official announcement from the team today, Thursday, said Lavery was moving on "after enduring a difficult year which was blighted with illness and injury".

Team manager Kurt Bogaerts wished him luck for next year and the rest of his career.

“Philip was unlucky with us last season and he got injuries at bad times. Maybe he will return to us at some stage, but I wish him all the best wherever he goes.”

It is not clear where Lavery will ride next year.

Bogaerts said he had "mixed emotions" about McNally staying with the team.

"On one hand it’s good to have him back but I really feel with his results last year he deserved to join a professional team. Of course I’m happy he will be riding for us again and he will be very important to the team.”

McNally had a consistently strong year in 2011, with the highlight being his win in the Mi-Aout en Bretagne stage race in France.

It is understood he was one of a number of emerging riders to be offered a contract by French outfit Europcar on condition the team secured a ProTour licence for next year, which they have failed to.

New signing Bellis is still only 23-years-old but has seen his progression in the pro ranks effectively derailed by a motorbike accident two years ago that left him in a coma for a month.

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He has now recovered and while he remained with Saxo-Bank, he raced little last year and his contract was not renewed.

He won bronze in the U23 World Championships road race in 2007 and then went on to make the GB road team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, aged just 20. He immediately turned pro for Saxo-Bank but barely a year later crashed off a motorbike in Italy.

He has won two European U23 track titles and one European junior track title.

If he can regain the form he showed before his accident in September 2009 he will be a great addition to the An Post-Sean Kelly team.

Bogaerts said Bellis, who is from the Isle of Man, now has a clean bill of health and he expected him to progress next year.

“Bellis is a great talent. He raced in the Olympics when he was only 20 and I have no doubts that he would still be riding for a pro team without his injuries. The challenge for us is to get him back to that level next season and we’re delighted to have him on board.”

The team has also signed 20-year-old Jon Mould from Newport in Wales. Like Bellis, he is a product of the GB track set-up and has won a European junior track title.

He is a member of British Cycling’s Olympic Academy programme and represented GB at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last year.

Bogaerts believes he can develop into a key rider for the team.

“Jon has a lot of potential and I hope we can develop him into a great road rider. He’s got an excellent track background and as I’ve said before he is the type of young rider which we have been following for a while now.”