An Irish consortium is at an advanced stage of putting together a new Irish pro team and had attracted a bike manufacturer and car supplier before adverse economic conditions derailed the plans for 2012.
However, planning for the project is continuing and those behind it are confident it can go ahead next year.
Talks with two international corporate entities with interests in Ireland were at an advanced stage in recent weeks with a view to them coming on board as title sponsors.
While both companies wanted to move forward with the plan they needed more time to make their final decision. This meant rolling out the team was not possible for the 2012 season, but the would-be sponsors are still interested for next year.
The team would have been registered in Ireland this year as a UCI Continental team. It had a roster of between 10 and 12 Irish and British riders and would have ridden major races in Ireland, Britain and also gone to Europe for some stage races.
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Invitations had already been secured for a number of international stage races including the Tour of Majorca, Tour of the Algarve and Tour of Croatia.
The team had lined up a house in the English Midlands where the riders would have been based for those periods of the season when the British scene is busiest; Premier Calender races, the Halfords Tour Series criteriums, Tour of Britain and other key races.
In Ireland it would have entered a team in races like the An Post Ras, Tour of Ulster, Ras Mumhan, Suir Valley Three-Day and a number of one-day races.
If the launch of the team goes ahead as planned in 12 months, the riders will follow a similar programme for the 2013 season.
Philip Finegan, who has managed the domestically-based SportActive team for the last couple of seasons, is one of the key people behind the new project. He said despite the disappointment of getting so close to launching the team this year, he is very hopeful it can happen next year.
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At least three other directors are involved but prefer to keep their identities private for now.
"It would be a UCI Continental team registered in Ireland with riders from both Ireland and Britain," Finegan told Stickybottle.
"We had a key bike manufacturer on board to supply the bikes, which would be a pretty significant part of the team's overall budget. And we also had an agreement for vehicles with a major name."
"We were then looking for two or three other backers. At least two companies were very interested and wanted to do it, but committing to it right now was the issue. But they are still interested for next year and we will be staying in touch with everyone and looking at attracting some other backers too."
Finegan said most of the companies the Irish-British consortium spoke to saw real merit in backing an international Irish-registered cycling team. He also believed the team would be a worthwhile vehicle for riders to further their careers.
"There is definitely a gap there; guys tend to think that if they don't get a place on the An Post-Sean Kelly team then that's it for them. But by racing the big races in Ireland and England and also going to the Continent on invites from stage races, we feel we can get some very good racing and get exposure for sponsors to very much make it worth their while."
Finegan said the consortium had enlisted the services of a sponsorship company that already had a proven record in putting sponsorship in place within the sport. A total of 115 companies were approached and the consortium had meetings with around 25 of these.
While these talks had progressed well, particularly with the two well known international corporations, those working on launching the team needed a decision a little more quickly than the companies wanted.
However, Finegan said a lot of work that had been done to date would be carried forward and with some more effort he believed the project would go ahead next year.
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