CYCLING:The future of the Sean Kelly team is looking healthy with the announcement of new sponsors for the 2008 season. An Post comes in as primary sponsor, while M Donnelly and Grant Thornton will be secondary backers of the UCI Continental-level team.
"We have a one-year deal with An Post, with the possibility of it extending afterwards," said manager Kurt Bogaerts yesterday. "We are in the process of finalising the team and should be signing more riders this week."
Four Irish riders have been retained from this year's Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group/M Donnelly line-up. Páidí O'Brien, Mark Cassidy, Isaac Speirs and Stephen Gallagher signed contracts on Wednesday and will be once again based at the Sean Kelly Academy in Merchtem, Belgium.
Bogaerts said there is a possibility of taking another Irish rider on the 12-man squad.
The squad will compete in a range of international races in 2008, with the Tour de San Luis in Argentina, the Etoile des Bessèges in France and the Portuguese Tour of Algarve on their programme for January and February. They are also set to compete again in the Tour of Ireland later in the year, of which An Post is a co-sponsor.
The country will have two Continental teams for 2008. Irish road race champion David O'Loughlin and several others are part of the Pezula squad, which was launched earlier this autumn.
O'Loughlin is one of five Irish track riders who will this weekend start the process which they hope will qualify them for the Olympic Games next summer. He, Morgan Fox, Paul Healion, Martyn Irvine and Dermot Nally are all competing in the Beijing round of cycling's track World Cup.
The Mayo rider will get the campaign under way when he lines out in the 4km individual pursuit. He and Fox will also compete in the points race, while the latter will also ride the scratch event.
Meanwhile, Louise Moriarty competed in last weekend's opening round of the series in Sydney, using borrowed bikes after hers were temporarily lost in transit. She got through to the final of the scratch race and finished 22nd. Moriarty also rode the points race and finished 13th in heat one, but missed out on qualification for the final.
Fixtures: Saturday: Women's physiological testing, Alsaa centre, near Dublin airport. Contact Brian Nugent at 086 8333851. Sunday: Off-road commission agm, Glenn Cormac Inn, Kilmacanouge, Co Wicklow. Starts 1pm.
