Damien Shaw is about to get his An Post-ChainReaction career underway and Sean Kelly has described his manner and power as remarkable (Photo: AnPostChainReaction.com)
By Shane Stokes
As the days tick down to Damien Shaw’s racing debut with the An Post Chainreaction team, Sean Kelly has said that he is excited to see how the 31-year-old fares with the squad.
The former world number one is a central figure in the team, working with general manager Kurt Bogaerts to develop riders and to help them achieve success.
The duo were central to Shaw coming on board, deciding last autumn to give him a shot on the squad.
“Shaw is an unbelievably powerful guy,” said Kelly, describing his impressions thus far.
“I spoke to him three or four years ago. He said to me, ‘what do you think about me going to the continent?’
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“I said, ‘for a guy like you, if you can win the races in Ireland, if you can dominate in Ireland, then you can give the European thing a run. You can give it a lash’. And this is what he did.
Shaw, centre, started with his local club Lakeside Wheelers. He has made relentless progress and was smart enough to introduce Sean Kelly to the notion he wanted to race with his team, that he was good enough and not too old. And with his results, he simply bullied his way into Kelly's plans - easier said than done, of course! (Photo courtesy Lakeside Wheelers)
"Last year he had a fabulous year. You can see the performances he put up at the National Championships in the Rás,” added Kelly in reference to Shaw’s win at the nationals and two second places and third place on the final three stages of the race last May.
“From that point on he was interested in coming to Europe and was in discussions with us for a long time.”
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Shaw only took up the sport at 26-years of age but, until now, has combined his cycling with his job as a fireman. He has put the latter on hold now and will focus fully on cycling.
He is older than the others in the team. That, plus a lack of experience at international level, means there is a little uncertainty about how he will fare.
But the experienced Kelly believes he very much deserves a shot.
“He is an amazing guy,” he said. “He has come a long way. The question is, how far more can he go? I don’t know how much is in him.”
Kelly getting ready for a spin at the An Post-ChainReaction training camp in Calpe, Spain. He's not alone in really looking forward to seeing how Damien Shaw will do against the pros (Photo: AnPostChainReaction.com)
Kelly was speaking at the team training camp in Calpe in Spain, where Shaw and the other riders were fine-tuning their preparation for the season ahead.
It would be understandable if the national champion was feeling intimidated, given that he hasn’t raced at this level before. But he was calm about his impending debut.
Kelly believes this is a major strength and that not wasting energy through nerves could stand to him.
“He is loving it. He is very relaxed,” he said, sounding impressed.
“That is very important. He is a cool guy, he is relaxed. I was talking to him about the races in Bessèges and he is totally chilled with it," said Kelly of the early season Etoile de Bessèges stage race in France where Shaw is likely to make his debut for the team.
"For a guy to have that attitude is very important. He is a guy who is going to be doing specific races, the Belgian races, the flatter races.
“That is where we will use him this year and try to see what results he can get. We will see how he will perform.”
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