Qatar invite a further boost for Irish-sponsored squad

CYCLING:FOLLOWING THE news last month that the An Post Sean Kelly team had been awarded an entry to the Tour of Oman, the Irish-sponsored squad has received a further boost by being confirmed as taking part in the preceding Tour of Qatar.

Both races are run by Tour de France organisers ASO and it is a major show of confidence for the continental squad to get a nod ahead of other higher-ranked teams.

A total of 16 squads will start the Tour of Qatar on February 6th, including 10 of the 18 top-level proteams in cycling. These are the Quick Step squad of Tom Boonen, the Belgian who has won the overall classification three times plus 17 stages, as well as Astana, BMC Racing Team, Garmin-Cervélo, Katusha, Lampre-ISD, Rabobank, Team Sky, HTC-Highroad plus the newly-launched Leopard-Trek team of Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara.

Run off on flat, fast, desert-bordered roads, the race is a very competitive one as it is a chance for the riders present to build form before the one-day classics. It is also utilised as a mechanism of trying to impress ASO before it makes its wildcard decisions for its events such as the Tour de France.

The An Post Sean Kelly team will finalise its selection for the event later this month. Before then, the squad heads to Calpe in Spain this weekend for a pre-season training camp. Irish riders Ronan McLaughlin, Mark Cassidy. Philip Lavery and Sam Bennett are due to be part of the team in 2011.

The Irish road race championship will take place in Lurgan Park on Sunday. Last year Joe McCall (Rocky Mountain) won by over a minute ahead of Ryan Sherlock and Liam McGreevy, with Francine Meehan taking the women’s prize. McCall is expected to take part, but Sherlock will be missing as he is currently training overseas in advance of the road season.

Should Robin Seymour decide to turn up, the Wicklowman has a chance to go for what would be a superb 17th national title in the event. The racing will take place on a fast, flowing 2.1 kilometre circuit. The event will be jointly organised by the Banbridge CC, Apollo CT and Dromara CC clubs, with the first races starting at 10.40am.