Kelly sees progress at Spanish camp

FORMER WORLD number one Seán Kelly has said he is content with how things are going for the An Post Grant Thornton Seán Kelly team at its training camp in Calpe, Spain. “Everything is very good,” he told The Irish Times yesterday. “There’s no injuries or sickness, which is always a positive thing for this time of year. The training is also very good here. Some teams are in Portugal and the weather is very bad there.”

The team has been training since Monday and will remain in Calpe until this day week. The first races will be in France in over two weeks’ time, the GP la Marseillaise on January 31st while the Etoile de Bessèges is on February 3rd.

Kelly said the days ahead will determine who is selected for those events, with the strongest riders to lead things off for the season. “There was an aggressive final hour during yesterday’s training and we could see who was going well. That’s important, but so too how they are going in the days ahead . . . the ones who are stronger will recover better.”

New signing Connor McConvey will join David O’Loughlin, Mark Cassidy, Ronan McLaughlin and Paídí O’Brien as the Irish riders on the team. He previously focused more on mountainbike races but is going to apply himself far more to road competition. The impressions so far are good. “Connor was very much to the front yesterday, amongst the strongest three or four guys,” said Kelly, who is heavily involved with the running of the team. “He was impressive.”

Kelly is hoping the squad will get invites to the Het Nieuwsblad semi-Classic and the Tour of Belgium, as well as other top contests.

WEEKEND FIXTURES

Friday: Fundraising evening, Ards Bowling Club (in aid of Belgian Project and Paracycling Ireland), 8pm.

Saturday: Leinster youth camp, based at Bray Wheelers Clubhouse, 10am.