Belgian semi-Classic the target

CYCLING:MOTIVATED BY an aggressive team displays in the recent Tours of Qatar and Oman, eight riders from the An Post Grant Thornton M Donnelly Seán Kelly squad will take part in the prestigious Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne semi-Classic on Sunday.

The race, which is one of the most hotly-contested early-season Belgian events, will see the world’s top Classics riders scrap it out for the honours. The An Post squad will be led by former Belgian champion Niko Eeckhout, who has won similar events, and is still going well despite being 40 years of age.

Two Irish riders will take part, namely Mark Cassidy and first-year pro Sam Bennett. Both performed solidly in Qatar and Oman, with Cassidy part of a long-distance attack on the final day of the latter event.

Sunday’s line-up will be completed by Belgian, English and Lithuanian riders.

Meanwhile, the squad’s two other Irish riders, Philip Lavery and Ronan McLaughlin, will be part of a seven-man team riding tomorrow’s Beverbeek Classic.

The line-up was unveiled at a slick team launch on Tuesday in Tielt, near Brussels. There Kelly said he was pleased with how the riders fared in the Gulf races.

“I think we performed exceptionally well. The invitation to Qatar and Oman was already a big thing to get, as they are such high-quality races with some very strong teams,” he said. “It was great to be invited, but it was also a bit scary because of the standard of the guys they were going to start racing against. Yet they performed exceptionally well – we had guys in the breaks all the time.”

Team manager Kurt Bogaerts said he is feeling confident about the season. “This year I feel we have the perfect mix between youth and experience in the team,” he said. “The first few races have given everyone confidence, so the plan is to stick to the same tactics – ride aggressively and be involved in the breaks – and then I am certain we will get a couple of big results soon.”

The team will also aim to ride well in select Irish events. Due to its main backer, it will aim to win the An Post Rás in May, and also try to take the national championship title in June.

Philip Deignan has been riding well in the Tour of Sardinia, showing decent climbing form on the attack on Wednesday. He is a solid 27th overall.

At home, the new season starts to ramp up this weekend, including the Lacey Cup in Tralee.

FIXTURES – Saturday: Travers Engineering GP, starts noon, Annaclone.

Sunday: Lacey Cup, Tralee, 12.15pm; West Coast open race, noon at Loughrea; Phoenix GP, Crumlin Community Centre, 11am.