|
|
|
Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
RÁS WINNER BAGDONAS COULD RETURN TO AN POST TEAM, EECKHOUT TO RENEW
By Shane Stokes
2 Dec 2011,
|
Email this article
|
 |
| Bagdonas was one of the team's best riders in 2011 |
With the future of the Geox TMC team looking increasingly bleak, the An Post Rás winner Gediminas Bagdonas appears set to return to the An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly team unless a last-minute sponsor is found for his new squad.
Today is the UCI deadline for Bike Live, the management company of the Geox TMC setup, to submit the necessary documentation. It was left in a precarious position when its main sponsor Geox abruptly pulled the plug on its backing in October, and since then has been searching for a new deal.
Managers Mauro Gianetti and Josean Matxin Fernandez travelled to Venezuela last month and spoke to officals there about the country providing the funding for a setup which would help promote the country’s tourism and also help develop young riders from there.
The duo initially appeared optimistic, but as of this morning they were still awaiting confirmation from the country’s president Hugo Chavez and were losing hope of finding a backer before the UCI said it was too late.
Riders such as Vuelta a España winner Juan Jose Cobo are set to explore the possibility of racing elsewhere; An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly manager Kurt Bogaerts revealed this week that Bagdonas has been in contact with him about a Plan B if the bigger squad doesn’t happen.
“I haven’t heard from him today, but in the beginning of the week I spoke to him. His manager said then that he thought it would okay [with Geox TMC],” he told Irishcycling.com today. “However we spoke about the possibility that he could return if that team doesn’t go forward.
“If Geox is indeed going to stop, then I think one of these days we will speak. I think that was his only hope. He was really hopeful earlier in the week [that the Pro Continental contract would work out].”
Bogaerts makes clear that while Bagdonas brought many important results to the team, that he also wanted to see his riders be able to take bigger contracts when they are available. He sees the team as a development squad and is pleased to be able to help riders progress in their careers.
However there’s clearly a lot of benefits for the An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly team if a rider like Bagdonas is back on board. “He got some really good victories last season and of course we’d like to have him back,” said Bogaerts. “He knows he had a good programme here, he made a lot of progress, and so if Geox doesn’t happen, it could work well if he returns.”
The Lithuanian clocked up several impressive wins in 2011. Apart from his two stage triumphs and overall victory in the An Post Rás, he also took stage seven of the Tour of Britain, the Lithuanian time trial championships and a stage win plus the overall classification in the Ronde de l’Oise. He finished the year off well with a strong 25th place in the world road race championships in Denmark.
EECKHOUT, MCNALLY AND BELLIS TO BE PART OF 2012 TEAM:
Meanwhile Bogaerts has confirmed that Niko Eeckhout is set to sign a new deal to race for the team next season. He turns 41 in two week’s time and it initially wasn’t clear if he would continue his career, but has now decided to do so. Negotiations with the team have gone well and things should be finalised in the next day or two.
“Niko looks set to renew…we are going to finalise that one today or tomorrow,” he said. “It will be very good for the team as he is one of our big riders.”
In February the former Belgian champion was a solid eighth on a stage of the Tour of Oman, then three weeks later he won a stage of the 2.1 Driedaagse Van West Vlaanderen en route to eighth overall. He also picked up smaller victories in races in Vilvoorde, Houthalen-helchteren, Stadsprijs Sint – Niklaas, Stekene and Oostrozebeke.
Other placings included third in the 1.1 Handzame Classic, second on a stage of the Ronde de l’Oise, fourth on the Omloop van het Waasland and twelfth in the 1.1 Halle – Ingooigem.
Bogaerts said that Eeckhout’s ability to clock up big wins and results plus what he has achieved in the past is important when the team is looking for wildcards to races such as the Tours of Qatar and Oman. However he emphasises that there are other plusses too to him being on board.
“Niko has been very important for the team in the past three years,” states Bogaerts. “He put us in a situation in high-standard races where we had the ambition to win. Also his attitude - his professionalism is really, really high. What is really important for me is that he trains hard, he looks after himself a lot, he sacrifices a lot. This gives a really good example to the other riders.”
A third rider who took important results last year for the team will also be coming back; the Liverpool rider Mark McNally had been expecting a contract with Europcar but when the French squad didn’t get a UCI ProTeam licence, the opportunity evaporated.
The Mi-Aout en Bretagne winner is set for another year with the team, as is the former Saxo Bank rider Jonny Bellis. He is still trying to return to top form after suffering a bad accident in September of 2009, and believes that the strong race programme on offer with the An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly team will be ideal in building his condition.
The team will once again have several Irish riders on board in 2012. Sam Bennett, Connor McConvey, Sean Downey and Ronan McLaughlin have been confirmed, while Mark Cassidy might also be returning.
Bogaerts has said that he will also aim to give opportunities to young Irish riders to guest with the team and show what they can do.
Next season is looking set to be the strongest one yet for the Irish-sponsored, Belgian-based team. The Irish riders will aim to make the most of this, learning from their team-mates and benefiting from their strength when they are in good positions to achieve big results.
|
|
|
|
